Solitude
by TheDoublemintTwins11
Summary: In a post apocalyptic world, Zoro is more concerned with staying alive than anything else. He’d only just convinced himself that he was better off alone when he met a strange boy with a straw hat. And he thought he was the only survivor :ZoLu: :SaNam: AU
1. Solitude

**This idea came to me after I had a dream in which the world had, through some strange occurrence, been greatly crippled, and society as we knew it collapsed as a result. I'm not really sure what that occurrence was, but I would imagine that not everyone in a post apocalyptic world would know HOW the world came to be that way. Anyway, enjoy the story; I'm going to have a blast writing it!**

Summary: In a post apocalyptic world, Zoro is more concerned with staying alive than anything else. He'd only just convinced himself that he was better off alone, when he met a strange boy with a straw hat. And he thought he was the only survivor. :ZoLu: :SaNam:

**Solitude**

**-DMTwins-**

The streets were deserted. After almost of year of being all but untouched, those few dead that had not been immediately removed from streets and houses by grieving survivors were so far decomposed that they hardly seemed human. This was good. The less human they seemed, the easier it was for him to walk past them without looking back.

Every day, Zoro became more and more convinced that there were no survivors left. In the first month after The Occurrence, as _it_ had come to be called, Zoro had happened across a number of survivors, both alone and in groups, both friendly, and extremely dangerous.

In the months after that, these meetings had become less and less. Some believed that there was a safe-haven somewhere, that they only had to find it, and then they, too, could disappear. Zoro wasn't stupid. There was no safe place, no far-off land, unaffected by whatever the hell The Occurrence _was._ There were fewer meetings with survivors, because there were fewer survivors to meet. It had been, roughly—because he had no way of counting days, and no patience to mark them off—three months since he'd last seen another living person. Only the strong survived, the rest died off.

That, he imagined, was why he was still here. Not because he was careful—though that may play a part—but because he was strong. He made certain that he didn't tie himself down with stupid things like friends and family. Friends betrayed you, family slowed you down. No, Zoro would have none of that.

There was only one person who he'd ever known that he would have been willing to stay with, and she'd been one of the many to die immediately after The Occurrence. After he'd buried her, Zoro had swiftly decided that he didn't need anyone else; he was better off without them.

It was on November eleventh, roughly one year ago, that The Occurrence had thrown his, and many others's, lives into complete hell. On this day, at the exact same time, everyone in the world—or, rather, everyone that Zoro had ever spoken with—lost consciousness. Most of them never woke up. Out of those who did, many didn't survive the week.

Some of them committed suicide, because they simply didn't want to face the new world, because they were overcome by grief, or because they believed that God had taken all the faithful into heaven and they, fearing that they had been forgotten or worse, had taken their lives instead of choosing to live on.

Of the last group, there were also those who believed that they had been forsaken, and chose to abandon their faith and their upbringing—these people constituted the groups of bandits that ran rampant in the weeks immediately following The Occurrence. They fought, killed, and destroyed everything in their path, in a blind rage against their god.

No one could live long with destruction and death as their only clothing, and these people were no different. Eventually they either returned to their faith, or simply disappeared altogether. Only a few disturbed men stayed with their new life of ruin—Zoro had run into a couple of them, and taken care of them accordingly.

Then these people disappeared as well, and the world slowly grew quiet. Only those solemn few survivors who chose to live on and cling to hope remained. They wandered alone and in groups, trying to survive and continue the human race. Some were searching for lost loved ones, others for the Haven, a rumored place where survivors were gathered to live together and rebuild civilization.

Zoro had first heard of the Haven from a little girl he'd met during his travels, back when there were still many survivors wandering the streets. She'd told him that she and her brother were going to find the Haven, together. She offered to bring him along. He'd declined. As far as he knew, there was no Haven. It was just a fairy tale that parents told their children to keep them from crying. Still, after he'd talked to her, he'd heard buzzing of the Haven from plenty of other people.

Zoro wasn't like any of these people. He had no hopes of finding the non-existent Haven; he had no loved ones to find. He didn't give a damn about the human race and its fate. There was no reason for him to continue on, accept that he didn't really want to die.

Zoro walked casually down the street, turning up the first driveway that he came across. The three katana that were strapped to his side clinked merrily against each other as he ascended the steps of the first house.

It had been a few days since he last came across a town, and he was in dire need of supplies. The only thing that remained in the bag over his shoulder was a packet of rice that he couldn't eat without water, a simple first aid kit, a lighter, and some matches.

He walked in the door, not bothering to knock, or even look around. A few months ago, he would have been wary entering an enclosed area like a house, where someone could be waiting in ambush. Now, he didn't even bother trying to be quiet. Zoro walked straight into the kitchen, and pulled open the pantry.

There wasn't a lot to choose from, but he did find a few cans of food that hadn't yet expired, and enough packets of dried food to last him a few weeks, provided that he found water to cook them with. There were no bottles of water sitting in the pantry, so Zoro turned to the fridge instead.

Taking a deep breath, he opened the door and quickly scanned the contents. Finding no water, Zoro shut the door again and stepped back before talking another breath. The room smelled faintly of rotting meat and produce, but it wasn't as bad as it could be.

After The Occurrence, anything and everything that ran on electricity stopped working. Cars refused to start, lights no longer turned on, and, consequently, all appliances stopped working as well. This confused Zoro to no end—he honestly had no idea _what_ could cause this, or if it had anything to do with The Occurrence.

Unfortunately for Zoro, the standard icebox was good enough quality to prevent rotting even without electricity. This also meant, consequently, that after the rotting process finally began, it lasted much longer than it would have normally. After a few months of sitting in a small box filled with rotting food, even bottled water gained a strange aftertaste.

Zoro sighed and glanced around the kitchen one last time. After deciding there was nothing of any use to him, he left to make a quick sweep of the house, both to check for other survivors, and to check for valuables.

Valuables, of course, were constituted of anything that could be eaten, drank, used to treat wounds, or used to inflict them. Anything else was just dead weight. And if he ever actually found a survivor… well, he wasn't sure what he'd do.

_It doesn't matter,_ Zoro decided as he descended the steps of the first house and continued into the one next door, _it isn't like I'll find anyone, anyway. There's no one left to find._

In the second house, Zoro was pleasantly surprised when he opened the pantry to find an entire pack of bottled water sitting on the bottom shelf, and even more pleased to find an untouched bottle of bourbon sitting on the top shelf. He grabbed both and loaded them into his bag. It was his lucky day—usually it took multiple tries to find enough water and food to satisfy, and he almost never found any form of alcohol, hard as he looked.

Zoro smiled to himself, and stood, shouldering his bag and readjusting the katana at his side. Then, out of habit, he turned to wander quickly through the house. After finding nothing of interest, Zoro walked to the front door. On his way out, something caught his eye. He walked over to the front window, and pulled a small sheet of paper down from where it had been haphazardly taped to the inside of the window.

The writing on the front was hurried—eager—and hard to read. It was written quickly and, probably because the author of the note had been very excited when he wrote it, hard to read.

_Annie,_

_If you find this, love, come to the rift. Come, and cross to the other side, to Haven. That's where I'm going, and if you find this, I want you to come, too. I know Haven is there, this thing, the Occurrence, it only affected us. If we move to a different country, we can find help—find Haven. Trust me, I know. It sounds crazy, but I know. _

It wasn't signed. Zoro frowned. The writer was right—it was crazy. He almost crumpled the note up and threw it away, but decided that if this person—this Annie—actually came here, she deserved to find the note. Even if they were a fool, Zoro felt like he owed the author of the note that much.

He tromped back to the door, taking all three steps at once, and started down the middle of the street. There were abandoned cars both in the driveways, as well as crashed haphazardly on either side of the road. Every town was like this, though some were worse than others.

Making a wide circle to avoid what used to be a middle-aged man, Zoro quickened his pace. He hated the towns, and preferred to get out of them as quickly as possible. Even before The Occurrence, Zoro didn't much like cities. He preferred his own solitary house in the woods. Now, a year after the Occurrence, towns were even worse.

Towns reminded him of the past. To Zoro, here and now was all that was important, the past was worthless. If he worried about the past, he couldn't concentrate on here and now. So he tried to avoid thinking about the past—and the future, for that matter—as much as possible.

He'd been walking for only a few minutes, but already Zoro was nearing the edge of the town. It was a small town that served only as a border guard between the two countries. The Rift was slang for the official border between this country and the Grand Line, its neighbor.

Because it was so small, it was also easy to control the flow between the two countries. Before The Occurrence, there was no physical way to cross the rift accept by an official plane. Tickets were expensive, and if you tried to climb through the rift, or fly over illegally, you would be caught and imprisoned.

After The Occurrence, Zoro doubted there were still people who bothered guarding the border. Unless, of course, the rumors were true, and The Grand Line hadn't been effected. But Zoro doubted that. It was better to assume the worst than get your hopes up, only to be disappointed.

If a person kept setting themselves up for disappointment in life, pretty soon they won't see much merit in living at all.

Still, he couldn't get the message on the note out of his head. Zoro was certain that Haven didn't exist, but then, the writer of that note was certain that it did. Zoro had no hard evidence to show for his theory, so he couldn't really say that he was definitely correct in his thinking. Still, the idea of a haven seemed unrealistic at best.

Zoro sighed and took a few more steps down the street before pausing to look at the road ahead of him. In the middle of the street was a large arrow, which angled off into the trees to his right. Above the arrow was the word RIFT, below it, HAVEN.

Zoro had passed the last line of houses, and was crossing onto the road out of town. If he wanted to continue, he would have to follow the road—which ran parallel to the rift—until he found another town and another road to switch onto.

The Rift. What a crazy idea.

_It sounds crazy, but I know._

Zoro frowned. He seemed so confident, the author of that note. There was really nothing wrong with trying to look for survivors, Zoro just couldn't see any reason to look. After he found them—if he found them—what then? He was a loner before, and he doubted he would be able to get along with another person, or people, for too long. Still, it sounded too good to be true: Haven.

He didn't really want to keep wandering aimlessly, simply existing. That was what he'd done until now—simply existed. Almost like he'd expected to find a purpose somewhere along his travels but never did. How long could one travel like this, living town to town with no real meaning other than moving forward. Another town, another road…

Or the Rift.

_Trust me, I know._

Zoro sighed, scraping his heel against the asphalt slowly. After a moment, he readjusted the bag on his shoulder and turned in the direction of the arrow, crossing over the pavement and onto the overgrown grass along the side.

**Chapter one, complete! This one is a lot of back story and build up, and the actual pairings in this story won't come until much later, but I hope you like it this far. Please review!**


	2. The Grand Line

**Here's chapter two! I hope you like it, and please review if you get the chance. Enjoy the chapter ^_^**

The clatter of shale and dirt cascading down the Rift's edge echoed and resounded off the tall stone walls, making the sound seem much larger than it was. Zoro kicked another shower of debris down the side of the almost completely vertical rock face and watched solemnly as it fell downwards and out of sight.

After walking a couple miles through the forest that the arrow had pointed him into, Zoro had finally decided that he had either gotten lost, or the arrow had misled him, and wasn't pointing toward the Rift at all. The latter seemed more likely, that is, until he very nearly walked out of the trees and right over the Rift's edge—effectively disproving both theories.

He let out a low whistle and peered into the canyon before him. The ground was a far ways off, but he could see it clearly nonetheless. If he wanted to attempt the climb down into the canyon and then back up the other side, Zoro was confidant that he could do it. The question was whether or not it was worth it.

From where he stood, Zoro could see nothing of the other side of the Rift. The cliff face on the other side was considerably higher than the one he was standing on, which made it impossible for Zoro to see anything of the other side.

Zoro had never been to the Grand Line before, and he didn't know whether it would be a good idea to travel into unknown territory—especially if the rumors of Haven on the other side were false. Again, Zoro sighed, and backed away from the edge a bit. The up side to going to the Grand Line was—of course—the possibility of other survivors taking refuge there. Even if there was no Haven, finding another person, if they were the _right_ person, may clear up the mystery of The Occurrence, and Zoro may be able to find some information to help him decide where he should go from here.

Zoro drew in a long breath and let out a yell as loud as he could manage. It had been quite a while since he'd last spoken to anyone, and the effort of screaming made his throat hurt, but he wanted to try and warrant a response. If there was someone on the other side, and they heard him yelling, wouldn't it make sense for them to yell back, or at least come to see what was making the noise? And if there were people to come and look for him, then he would certainly want to cross the Rift to the other side.

When the last traces of the shout stopped echoing off the canyon walls, Zoro paused, listening. Many long seconds of silence passed, and Zoro drew in another breath to repeat the process, this time yelling something more coherent: "Hey, anyone there?"

Again, the traces of his voice vanished from the air, and the chasm grew incredibly quiet once more. Zoro waited, much longer than he should have, before finally resigning himself to return the way he'd come. Without a response, there was no reason to continue across. Zoro sighed and readjusted the bag on his shoulders. As he did this, a large piece of rock that had been knocked loose by the debris Zoro had kicked into the gorge earlier finally succumbed to gravity and plummeted into the chasm's depths. A faint crack echoed off the Rift's walls.

Zoro paused. That sound—was it the sound of the rocks falling? He was sure he'd heard something else. But then, that could have been his mind playing tricks on him—he hadn't heard anything earlier. If someone were going to respond to his yell, they would have responded to him right away. There was no reason to wait that long.

It must have been the rocks.

And yet…

Zoro hesitated. A year ago, he wouldn't have. Hell, he wouldn't have even come down to the Rift in the first place—he was getting soft. But there was something about not seeing another living person for such a long time that made him really _want_ to see one. Even if it meant climbing across the Rift which was, by every definition, a stupid act, for the sake of chasing down some person who may or may not have responded to his yell, and who may or may not exist.

Despite the fact that he _knew_ it was a bad idea, and he _knew_ he shouldn't have crossed off the beaten path, Zoro still found himself pulling his swords away from his side and securing them to his bag as best he could so that they wouldn't hit against the rock during his decent. Easing over the edge of the Rift, he slowly began making his way down.

This, he was fairly certain, was the definition of insanity.

Either he really had heard someone respond when he yelled across the Rift, or his mind was playing tricks on him. If it was the latter, he would waste an entire day, and risk his life in the process, to chase after a figment of his imagination.

He stepped onto a ledge jutting out of the rocks side and looked down. The ground was still a long way off, but it wasn't near as far as it had appeared to be earlier. Zoro jumped off the ledge he was on, landing on another one directly below. He landed with a thump, swaying slightly. After he regained his balance, he began searching for another ledge to jump to.

It was much faster to jump from ledge to ledge, as long as there was ample room for him to land without falling off. He glanced across the gorge to the other side of the Rift. It was much closer than it was before, and as he looked closer, he noticed that the sides of the cliff were sloping closer together as he neared the bottom.

He jumped to the next ledge, which let out a loud crack upon his landing. The sound sent his heart into over-drive, and before his mind even fully registered the noise he'd grabbed hold of the wall behind him with both hands, just in case the ledge gave way beneath him.

The rock didn't break away, or shift even a little beneath his feet, but he still decided that it would be best if he didn't jump from ledge to ledge anymore. Instead, he grabbed hold of a nicely shaped groove to lower himself off the edge of the platform to begin a slower—but safer—decent. It wasn't that much farther to the bottom anyway, so Zoro was fine with climbing the rest of the way down.

He reached lower to grab another hand hold, placing first some, then all of his weight on his right leg. After readjusting his hold, he shifted to move his other leg further down. This sudden shift caused the rock beneath his feet give way, and as he reached to grab back onto the handhold he'd released to prevent himself from falling entirely. As he did this, the lower half of his body swung to crash painfully against the rock face. The collision knocked two of his katana loose—Sandai Keitetsu and Wadou Ichimonji—and, before he could regain his wits and rescue them, they were sent plummeting downwards to clatter on the rock below.

Zoro cursed, startling himself with the sudden outburst. After he'd regained his footing he paused to rest his forehead against the cool stone. He looked down at the place where his foot had been resting a moment earlier. A number of white shards were wedged into the rock. After examining it further, and climbing down a few feet for a closer look, he was startled to see that what he'd stepped on was actually some poor soul's skull. He bowed his head and mumbled an apology before continuing his decent, careful not to disturb it any further.

There wasn't much of a chance of anyone grabbing his swords, but Zoro couldn't help but feel a little anxious as he consciously increased his pace. Each of his swords was extremely important to him, but most important of all was one of the ones that had fallen—Wadou Ichimonji.

When he was about nine feet from the ground Zoro jumped. Landing in a crouch, he first moved Shuusui, the only of his swords that hadn't fallen, back to his side.

He found his other sword—Sandai Keitetsu—right away. It was sitting on top of a large stone. The blade had slid a couple of inches out of its sheath and was flashing menacingly at its master. Zoro picked it up and replaced it in its sheath, placing it with the other.

Wadou—the most unique and also most important of his swords—was a little harder to locate. When it landed, it had slipped between two rocks, almost completely concealing it from his eyes. A less observant person would have missed it; a less determined one would have given up looking. Zoro grabbed it up, shoving one of the rocks out of the way with his foot to do so. He inspected the blade as well as the sheath for damage.

Satisfied that he'd found none, he placed the third sword with the other two and started walking immediately toward the other side of the rift. It wasn't very far between the two sides, especially from the bottom of the Rift. He carefully stepped over what he assumed was a man who'd been foolish enough to try and jump over the canyon. The body looked disturbingly fresh, however, and Zoro couldn't help but wonder if he'd ever intended to do anything _but_ fall to his death.

Ignoring the thought, Zoro passed by two more corpses—skeletons, really, as they were both much older than the other—without looking at them directly. No matter how much death he saw, he could never see himself getting used to it.

He reached the other wall and paused to consider his swords, leaving the three deceased in his stead. It would probably be better if he kept them at his side, even if that meant allowing them to get in the way of his ascent and hit against the rock as he did so.

He certainly didn't want to risk loosing hold of them again, because then he would be forced to climb down to get whatever had fallen. After making absolutely certain that there would be no repeat of the previous episode, Zoro grabbed hold of the wall and began climbing the other side.

As far as weapons went, swords were the best way to go. Before the Occurance, one might have argued that a gun was a more practical weapon. But with no one to manufacture the ammunition, guns became useless as anything more than a simple bludgeon.

He kicked loose shale away with his foot before allowing the full of his weight on it and continuing his ascent.

People rarely carried guns anymore—hell, most of the people Zoro had met were more satisfied with a large, slightly sharpened stick than a gun.

The only gun he'd seen since the Occurrence, in fact—after everything calmed down and things had lulled into a general peace—was a gun with two bullets, owned by a couple who safeguarded it with their lives. It was either for protection, or for suicide, if need be. Zoro doubted that they'd given the former much thought.

But on top of being functional, practical weapons, Zoro's swords held a certain sentimental value for him as well.

With a grunt, he pulled himself onto a small ledge, and rested one knee on it while he shifted to move his swords out of the way. He considered stopping to rest, but there really wasn't much room for anything but one knee to rest comfortably on the ledge, and he quickly decided to continue onwards.

Two of his swords—Shuusui and Sandai Keitetsu—belonged to him. He practiced three-sword style. Even before the Occurrence he'd been a swordsman. He only owned two swords of his own because the third—Yubashiri—had been destroyed and he had, despite his friends protests, refused to downgrade to a lower quality sword; he would much rather do without a third sword at all. So Zoro had fought with two swords for a while, and though it wasn't a great difference, he had been crippled slightly because of that.

He'd picked up Wadou after the Occurrence. He'd never expected to get his hands on it otherwise, but it had completed his set nonetheless. The sword wasn't his—he hadn't asked for it, nor had it been given to him—but he was borrowing it all the same. Using it for her sake, because she couldn't use it herself.

In a way, it was the one part of his past that he really didn't want to get rid of, even if he could.

He reached up to grab another handhold, shifting his right foot to a higher position. Zoro was nearing the top and was beginning to carefully choose his hand holds to avoid any slip-ups. With a final grunt, he hoisted himself over the edge of the cliff. He stood, rubbing the palms of his hands on his pants as he did so.

The land was generally flat, which explained why the higher elevation made it impossible to see anything of the Grand Line from below, and there were very few landmarks; there was also no one in sight.

He knew he shouldn't have been disappointed—after all, he'd expected that there was no Haven in the Grand Line, but the barren sight before him caused an unfamiliar tightening in his chest all the same.

He ignored it, taking a step away from the edge, and scanned the landscape. There were thickening rows of trees off to his left and, he assumed, if anyone was on this side of the Rift, that's where they'd be. He started off into the trees with determination, ignoring the disappointment of not finding anyone else as it was nagging at the back of his mind.

He could always cross back over the Rift, but it might not be worth the effort, and if it was it wasn't happening today. It would be nightfall soon, and he didn't want to climb in the dark, and he _certainly_ didn't want to camp in the canyon of the Rift, with the dead.

Running his eyes over the trees, Zoro searched for anything he could use to set camp. He would probably keep walking, just to be sure that there was no one over here. It wouldn't take him long to make camp, and he wanted to explore a little further into the trees.

Further ahead of him, a loud crack shook the trees. Zoro froze mid-step, turning toward the noise. That was it. He was sure of it.

That was the sound.

**Sorry about all the build-up, I know it's lame, but its necessary (I think). I just hope that I can actually manage to update this semi-regularly :D I don't want to get ahead of myself XD **

**I'm pretty sure that the entire SH crew will be brought into this story by the end of it, but I'm not sure when (and there's a good chance it will be a long while before some of them are brought in) … So anyway, please review and tell me what you think!**


	3. Riot

**Wow this is a long author's note…Anyway, chapter three is complete! :D I'm glad that you liked this enough to continue reading, and if you didn't like it—though I'm not really sure why you're still reading—I hope that you start liking it. Thanks to those who reviewed or thought about reviewing, I appreciate it.**

**On another note, this chapter may be the last update until summer, because it is the last chapter that is completely written and edited to my liking. I will, however, do my best to work on it before summer, I just can't make any promises. I know that this is a horrible place to leave you hanging, and I apologize. If I DO make you wait until the summer, then I'll do a double-update or something. I don't know, I may end up updating next week XD**

The last traces of the tree-shaking blast vanished from the air, leaving the area around him completely silent, save for the squawking of startled birds. He couldn't even begin to imagine what could have caused a noise such as that, but he _did _know that there was no way it wasn't made by a person. So, despite the warning bells that were going off in his mind, screaming for him to go the other way, Zoro found himself breaking into a run.

It was no secret from which way the noise had come—his ears were still ringing. And, judging from the volume of the noise, it was close as well. He pushed through the trees and shrubs, wondering from what and where the noise had come from all the while.

It had sounded, to him, like an explosion—a very large gunshot, to be exact. He leaped over a fallen log, dodging under a branch as he did so. Though he waited for the noise to come again, he heard nothing but the sound of his feet hitting the earth and the branches tearing at his arms and clothing.

When he'd first begun running, it had seemed as though he were entirely alone in the middle of the wilderness. The trees towered over him, and grew so thickly that he couldn't see farther than twenty feet in any direction before a trunk blocked his vision.

But almost as soon as he had run off into the trees they'd started to thin out, and, after running a decent ways, they cleared out entirely, revealing the Grand Line's equivalent of a border town, similar to the one that he'd passed through on the other side of the Rift.

He stood on the top of a hill overlooking the town from a slight height advantage. It was large—surprisingly so—and surrounded by a large amount of clearing on every side of the town. This, he presumed, had originally been to protect the town from guerilla warfare from within the trees, but after a few decades and a severe increase in security, it had begun to serve more as a natural city-limit. It was simply void space that could have—if given the opportunity—eventually proved it's worth when the town wanted to expand.

Unfortunately, it was reverting back to its original security purposes, since the chances of the town expanding had all but dropped to zero. Zoro scanned the clearing, as well as what he could see of the town, but didn't see anything that might have caused the noise.

There was another side of the town that he couldn't see, however, so he decided to venture into the streets to search.

As he began to make his way down the sloping landscape and into the clearing, it occurred that the people that made the noise may not be friendly. Even after not seeing another person for months, Zoro wasn't stupid enough to blindly trust whoever it was in the town to not attack him outright.

Uneasiness washed over him and he crossed the clearing as quickly as possible. He was an easy target out in the open like this, and every one of his senses went into overdrive, taking in everything in his surroundings as a potential threat. Even after he'd ducked into the shelter that the houses on the outside of the town offered, he didn't begin to let his guard down.

From the hill, Zoro had been able to see everything to the left of his vantage point, so when he reached the road, Zoro turned right, making sure to stick to the houses as best he could so that he didn't draw too much attention to himself.

Odds were, the person—or people—who had made that noise weren't aware that they had company. If they turned out to be a threat, as long as Zoro kept his wits about him, there was a perfectly good opportunity for the swordsman to simply turn around and run away. As much as he hated the idea of fleeing, he also knew that there was a chance it would be necessary.

And if he _was_ forced to fight, he wanted to element of surprise on his side.

As he walked down the street, Zoro became aware of the sound of voices. Multiple voices, all talking, laughing, or yelling. There was one definite voice that that stuck out to him. It was loud and demanding, carrying over all the others easily. It was screeching orders, demanding that its allies picked up the pace. The more he listened, the more on edge he grew. There was something about the voices—the entire situation—that pushed his fight-or-flight instincts into overdrive.

Suddenly, the overwhelming urge to get inside and out of sight overtook him. Zoro took a step back, crossing onto the porch of the nearest house and ducking inside the open front door, shutting it behind him. Just as he stepped inside and out of sight, a pair of men emerged from the house next door. Both of them were carrying bags packed full, and, more noticeably, a pair of swords at their side.

Zoro watched them through the door's only window as they passed by him. His eyes narrowed as pieces of their conversation drifted through the door.

"The Boss is so stingy! All I wanted to do was set off the cannon once, and he sends me off to collect from the houses!"

The second shifted the bag on his shoulders. "Be happy he didn't kill you outright, you dumbass. No one touches the Boss's stuff."

"Yeah, well, I still can't wait till he blows up this whole damn town. It's gonna be great!" The first cheered, pumping a fist into the air. Zoro frowned at the words. These two didn't look all that threatening—they would both be rather unassuming if not for their flamboyant dress and the scabbards at their hips.

"Hey—" Zoro ducked behind the wall as one of their heads turned towards him. "Didn't we just check that house?" Shit!

He backed away from the door, ducking low. Zoro crossed the threshold and moved farther into the room. The sun was beginning to set, which cast shadows on the walls, making it even easier to hide.

"Yeah, so?"

"The door's closed."

The other paused, catching on to his partner's drift. "Well, maybe the wind closed it." From outside, Zoro could hear the sound of footsteps on the porch. "We should check, just in case… The Boss'd have our hides!" He laughed as he pulled the door open and stepped inside, followed by his partner. Zoro froze, watching them both from behind a tall table in the corner, daring either of them to notice him.

They both dropped their bags by the door and walked in, pulling the door shut behind them—probably to prevent him from sneaking past them and outside. He noticed how much older the second speaker was. He also noticed that the odd marks on their faces were actually face paint, if not tattoos.

"Hold on, I'll check upstairs." The older said. "You watch the door." He disappeared from view, and the room grew extremely quiet. Zoro held his breath for fear of being heard because, despite the fact that he was _positive _he could handle the brat in the doorway, he certainly didn't want to draw too much attention to himself, or make enemies with _anyone_ who had a cannon.

There was some thumping around upstairs, and then the younger went out of view as well. For one long moment, Zoro actually thought that he hadn't been noticed, but then the younger came into view again. Their eyes locked, and in the time it took for him to find his voice to cry out for his friend, Zoro had crossed the short distance between them and drawn two of his swords.

With one swift movement he knocked the kids back against the wall, holding the blade of his swords tight against his throat; he turned to smash the hilt of another into the nose of his ally's face.

He fell unceremoniously to the ground and the younger let out a squeak as he slumped near their feet. Zoro locked eyes with him, almost feeling bad as the kid—he couldn't have been older than fifteen—squeezed his eyes shut in terror.

"Who are you?" Zoro asked. The voice sounded strange and unfamiliar, even to him. It had been much too long since he'd spoken to anyone. The other shook his head slightly, too scared to speak. Zoro sighed and removed the sword from his throat, pointing it instead at his chest. "Don't make me repeat myself."

"W-we're rioters." He squeaked.

Damn, he'd figured that was going to be the answer, but he'd been sincerely hoping that they weren't rioters. He hated rioters. They were rowdy and reckless, without concern for anyone but themselves, always itching for a fight. Zoro frowned and stepped away, sheathing his swords.

"Get out of here. I don't wanna hurt you, and you don't want me to either." He snapped. At first the kid didn't move, but when he realized that he was actually being given a chance at freedom, he took a tentative step toward the door.

_Don't be an idiot…_ Zoro thought, as the kid walked closer to him; He noticed the hand that snuck to his scabbard and sighed inwardly.

As soon as he was within range, the kid drew his sword and turned to attack Zoro head-on. In a matter of moments it was clattering across floor. Zoro watched passively as the kid crumpled to the ground before walking over to their bags.

"Be happy, I used the back of my sword." He mumbled, drawing up the first bag to look through its contents. When he pulled the drawstring open, the last thing he'd expected to see was gold, but the bag was filled with it. Jewelry, silverware, and a number of other precious items were stuffed into the bag. A quick examination of the second revealed the same.

Zoro scoffed and threw it down again. Gold was worthless, dead weight. Anyone who would raid houses for _gold_ was the worst kind of fool in Zoro's book. They were stuck in the past, when precious metals were precious and wealth or status mattered.

Zoro frowned, and adjusted his katana before turning to make sure that neither of the men behind him would be getting back up again. The last thing he wanted was for one of them to go reporting to their boss before he had the chance to get far, far away.

Outside, the voices, which had previously been inaudible from inside the house, grew to an excited roar. Zoro's head snapped up and a hand flew to his swords; his first thought was that he'd been discovered, but, after a few moments, no one appeared on the streets. He reasoned that there was no way that he'd been found out, as he was almost certain that no one but the two unconscious men behind him had seen him. He walked to the window on the door, peering out.

Besides, the voices seemed excited, and maybe encouraging, but not angry. Whatever it was that was causing the excitement could also serve as the perfect means for his escape.

He grabbed the doorknob and stepped outside, moving to turn back the way that he'd entered the town, but the sound of the cheering crowd grew clearer as he stepped outside, and, over the sound of uproarious laughter, and incoherent screams, he could also make out, rather clearly, the monotonous chanting of two words over and over again in growing anticipation.

_Kill him._

**Hah, this is either a terrible place to end this one, or a great place, and I'm not really sure which…. Oh well, please review and tell me what you think!**


	4. The Boy in a Cage

**I don't know why, but I decided to update today. My attention has been attracted toward another fandom lately, and I haven't written much One Piece, despite the fact that it is still my primary fandom. In any case, here's chapter four of Solitude. Please review, and thanks to those who've reviewed thus far! **

There was something different about the circumstances, something had changed. Just a moment ago, his fight or flight instincts had been screaming for him to run at the first opportunity, but now that that opportunity had arisen, he could no longer bring himself to move.

There was something about the shouting that was washing over the streets that kept him rooted to the porch in indecision. It made more sense to leave the town now and ignore whatever it was that was causing the commotion further down the street. Then again, nothing really, _truly,_ made sense any more.

Or at least, that was what he told himself as he made his way down the porch and darted across the street to duck into the cover between the two adjoining houses. He made his way toward the sound, keeping one hand on his swords as he did so.

The shouting was loud, but not overbearingly so. From the sound of it, there couldn't have been more than thirty rioters—and thirty wasn't all that bad, considering how much higher it _could_ have been.

After all, he'd run into more than his share of rioter's nests—an unfortunate amount, really, as though he were drawn to them, or they to him—and acquired a healthy hatred for those who took the name.

Most rioters were, as the younger rioter from earlier had so graciously demonstrated, nothing more than a bunch of rowdy, destructive people who needed a good reason to partake in all the destruction that they found themselves capable of after The Occurrence—and found that reason in their numbers.

But still, thirty people was more than he expected to meet in the rest of his life—hell, the two he'd run into earlier were overwhelming. After all, as far as he'd been concerned, the last other survivors had died off moths ago. Maybe they really did cross over The Ridge and find Haven—it would certainly explain why there were so many people.

Zoro poked his head around the edge of a house in search of anyone who could pose a threat. When he saw no one, he continued past the house and into the shadow of the next one. He could see, through the darkness, the faint flicker of long shadows writhing on the streets.

Just as he was about to cross to the next hiding place, two men stumbled drunkenly into his path. He froze in his tracks, but neither of them noticed him, and continued on to their destination—wherever that may be. One of them supported the other heavily, both trying to keep him on his feet, and trying to prevent him from turning back the way they'd come. The less lucid of the two was protesting loudly, trying his hardest to turn back so he can "see the show" to which the other swiftly replied that he'd already seen the kid, and that this execution wouldn't be any different than the others.

Zoro watched them go, listening until they disappeared out of sight. Something caught him about their conversation. From what he could gather, whoever was the star of "the show" wasn't a fellow raider—he was just a kid.

They couldn't have been more than a city-block away from him, and he adjusted his pace accordingly. It would be best if he stayed out of whatever light was creating the shadows on the street. If he could stick to the houses, or even the bushes, that would be best. The sun had finally dipped fully below the horizon, leaving the town wrapped in twilight.

When he finally made his way to the house opposite where the shouting was loudest, Zoro glanced around for any way to get onto the roof. Sneaking around the house to assess the situation or going through the house would be acceptable, but getting a view from the roof—where he was less likely to be spotted, and less likely to be _reached_ if he was spotted—was his favorite method.

Unfortunately, there was no definite way to get onto the roof, and he didn't really trust going through the house—lest someone be waiting inside to catch him unawares. Instead, Zoro chose to creep carefully around the side of the house and across its lawn. He opened a garden gate—which screeched in protest, but went more or less unheard under the roar of the excited crowd—and slipped into a fenced-off lawn with very high walls for privacy's sake.

Shadows danced behind the fence, visible only in brief glimpses through the cracks in the boards. He crept closer, praying that no one would spot him through the fence before he had a chance to weigh the situation, and find the kid the two from earlier had been talking about.

If it really was just a kid, then of course he would try to help him. After all, there was really no reason to come all this way only to abandon his initial goal. Besides, Zoro wasn't one to back down from a challenge, and the idea of a thirty-on-one fight _certainly _qualified as a challenge.

Ducking low, Zoro leaned against the fence and peered between the cracks, feeling rather foolish for sneaking around, but fully aware that it was necessary—especially with odds like these.

When Zoro looked through the fence, he did so with the express belief that no one on the other side would be able to see him, so it startled him when only moments after he began looking through the fence, a black haired teen with a straw hat turned to look in his direction.

He couldn't have been much younger than Zoro, though he could see why the men from before had referred to him as a kid since he gave off a very innocent, childish air, even from a distance.

He was sitting in the middle of the street with both arms tied behind his back. Despite the obvious severity of his situation, the kid was smiling and looking entirely content.

The streets on either side of the boy were lined with men in strange clothing, all of which were shouting to a man in the middle of the street who Zoro presumed to be their leader, as well as the owner of the screeching voice from earlier.

Zoro's eyes trailed over the scene, crossing over a giant bonfire which was the cause of the long shadows cast on the street, and finally coming to rest on a pyramid-shaped stack of what looked like cannon balls with a clown's face painted on them. A few feet farther back sat the cannon, which was still aimed at the remains of a small house.

The house—though it was a stretch to call it that anymore—was in shambles. It seemed far too gone for the cannon to have done the damage. If the cannon weren't aimed at the house, he probably wouldn't have known what had caused it to fall apart the way it had. Whatever that cannon was, it wasn't normal. Zoro glanced back at the kid in the street, who was still smiling like an idiot.

"Men!" the leader yelled, and the shouting died down to a lesser roar as the followers stopped talking to listen. "Who here has brought you fortune, purpose, and _power_?" Instantly the crowd erupted into cheers, all screaming more-or-less the same thing, the name of their leader—Buggy.

He seemed to bask in the praise for a moment before raising a hand to silence the crowd. Zoro scoffed at the man's obvious infatuation with himself, and his follower's blind adoration. The black haired boy must have shared his sentiments, because he rolled his eyes dramatically and poked his tongue out.

"That's right! And just as I have brought you these things, I'll bring you entertainment as well. Get the cannon, let's make this flashy!" He struck a pose and the men erupted into cheers again as three men went to turn the cannon and a fourth grabbed the top cannon ball off the pyramid.

Zoro's eyes widened when he realized that they were actually going to fire a _cannon _at the kid in the street.

It took him one second to register this, another to decide that he was going to stop it, and before they had even lit the fuse, he jumped up with one hand on his sword and the other, reaching for the latch on the fence that would let him into the street.

The fence was just a little taller than he, and the cracks between it were wider at the bottom, which meant that he couldn't see the other street or the rioters from a standing position.

The unmistakable sound of a disappointed crowd, however, caused him to pause before he'd fully opened the gate. He quietly closed the latch and bent to look through the fence once more.

The man from earlier—whose nose he'd broken—had approached the leader. He seemed nervous, and for good reason, because as soon as he finished reporting what had happened the leader, Buggy, instantly began screaming.

"You mean there's an intruder, and you _lost_ him?" He screeched, "You flashy imbecile, what if he'd tried to steal my treasure, or he comes back with allies and tries _to steal my treasure_?"

The man was stuttering an apology, trying all the while to explain himself and his failure, but Zoro wasn't listening. Instead, he eyes were on the boy in the street, who was once again staring directly at him. The look on his face convinced Zoro that he knew that there was someone hiding behind the fence, even as he decided that that wasn't possible.

"Alright men!" Buggy shrieked, snapping Zoro's attention back to him, "I want you to spread out, find the swordsman, and bring him back here." The men seemed dissatisfied with this, mostly, Zoro gathered, because they were looking forward to seeing the cannon go off. Their leader seemed to sense this, because he added, rather triumphantly:

"Bring me the swordsman, and you can have both of their heads," He made a grand motion with his arm, striking a pose, "But bring me his _swords_ and I'll let you light the fuse!"

The men let out a cheer, scattering in every direction, all wanting to be the one to claim his swords, his head, or both. The leader stopped two of the men and pointed to the boy—who was currently trying to walk casually away without being noticed—and they grabbed him and half-walked-half-dragged him toward a property adjacent to the property Zoro was hiding on now.

Though he couldn't see the boy very well, Zoro heard the distinct sound of laughter and instantly decided that it had to belong to the black haired teen with the straw hat.

"This kid's crazy…" He muttered, even as he stood from his hiding place to search for a way to get inside the house next door unnoticed. This proved to be easier than he expected. When everyone in the streets had scattered, Zoro had expected them to be swarming around, making it difficult for him to carry out his next move.

When he'd crossed over to the fence that would let him into the next house's backyard and pulled himself up to climb over it, however, he was surprised to see no one in sight. Even Buggy, who he was fairly certain would stay with his cannon, was nowhere to be seen.

This confused him, but he didn't complain, because it would make his escape all the simpler. He jumped over the fence and began walking toward the house he thought the two rioters and the boy had disappeared into.

It was a small house, with only one visible window on the second floor. The door was ajar, hanging by only one hinge. Behind him, a gate creaked. Immediately, Zoro turned to the noise, ducking even as he did so to allow an aluminum bat to graze the hair on the top of his head.

His attacker lost her balance when the bat failed to connect with his head, and Zoro watched at she almost took herself out. This kid was a joke. She must have been younger than the one he'd taken out earlier!

Without a second thought, Zoro grabbed one of his swords and jabbed the sheath into the girl's stomach. He'd never been one to kill unnecessarily, especially when his opponent was a kid. With one smooth movement, he brought the hilt down on the top of her head.

He never said he wasn't thorough.

The kid fell to the ground, and Zoro kicked the bat out of her reach. She groaned, but didn't move and instead just hit her forehead against the ground as if to punish herself for her own stupidity. Zoro sighed when he realized that the kid was probably waiting for the finishing blow. It made him wonder what the hell any of these kids had done to deserve growing up with a life like this.

"Hey kid, where're all of those other guys?" He demanded. If they were hiding, or he was walking into some kind of trap, Zoro was confidant in his ability to get this kid to tell him. She turned her head to look at him, apprehension written all over her face. Zoro scowled. "I'm not gonna hurt you, just tell me where your friends went."

"They're looking for you!"

"Well, where are they?" He demanded again. He was loosing his patience, and he really didn't want to deal with this kid when he had more important matters to attend to.

"They're all searching the woods! No one thought you were stupid enough to hang around in the town!" she snapped, flinching visibly when his sword passed over her head. He replaced it at his side, and made eye contact with her.

"Get out of here. If I see you again, I'll kill you." Her eyes widened, and he turned back to the house in front of him. Behind him, the girl got to her feet and retreated through the fence. She would go to get reinforcements. He was sure of that, but he also knew that by the time she got back, he would probably be gone.

Since there were no windows on the first floor, Zoro decided that the front door was his only option. Instincts told him that there was no one waiting immediately inside the door, so he walked right inside.

The interior of the house was shrouded in darkness, and small enough that Zoro crossed the threshold in two long steps. To the left was a small room, the kitchen, and it was obviously deserted, so he walked to the right. There were only two rooms to the right—one living room, and one bathroom—both of which were empty.

He walked to the end of the living room and pulled open a door, revealing a hallway that looped back around to the kitchen, as well as leading to the house's only bedroom. Another door in the hall caught his eye, however, and he paused to try the knob. It was locked, but there was a sliver of light protruding from beneath the door.

_This kid had better be worth saving_, Zoro thought as he took a step back and kicked the door in. The doorframe couldn't stand up to the abuse, and the wood splintered, sending pieces down the steps. Zoro shoved the door aside and began descending the steps.

"You found him _already_?" a voice called up from the bottom of the stairs. Zoro recognized it as the kids, and jumped the last few steps. He was sitting in the middle of a cage, looking extremely bored. A moment of surprise crossed the boy's features when he looked over at Zoro, before his face broke into a grin.

"You're the guy they're all looking for!" He said, his gaze coming to rest on Zoro's swords. The swordsman nodded.

"I'm Luffy." He chirped, sitting up a little straighter. "Cool hair."

"Thanks… where'd those two rioters go?"

"Looking for you." He shrugged, showing that the topic didn't interest him, before changing it entirely: "Is that your real hair color?"

"Yes. Where's the key?" He motioned to the cage door.

"They took it with them." Luffy replied, squirming a little in discomfort. Zoro noticed this and drew one of his katana. Luffy's eyes widened, and he cried out when the blade soared through the bars. The ropes pinning his arms to his sides fell away, and he paused to be certain that all of his limbs were in tact.

"Thanks!" He smiled up at Zoro.

Zoro wasn't sure _why_ he felt the need to look away, but he did. There was something about that smile that made him uneasy. What the hell was that about? When he glanced back, Luffy was looking at him expectantly, and Zoro realized that he'd just spoken to him, though he couldn't remember what he'd said.

"I said, what's your name?" He clarified. He made eye contact, and Zoro was surprised by the confidence in his gaze.

"Zoro." He said.

**Thus concludes chapter four :D This chapter is a little long, mostly because I wrote almost all of it in a notebook rather than on my laptop, and didn't, therefore, have a word count to keep me in check… **

**You know, we really do, in a lot of our stories, have Luffy introduce himself with "I'm Luffy…Cool hair" but hey, they are both true statements, so I guess it doesn't really matter ^_^**

**Updates will still be somewhat sporadic and I seriously wonder if anything is going to change that… Anyway, please review and tell me what you think so far.**


	5. Independant

**I don't think I will be following the manga's plot very closely, but I do intend to incorporate a few ideas… we'll just have to see. Anyway, thanks for the reviews! I realized that I hadn't updated this in forever, and so I decided to crack down and get a chapter done so that you guys can have **_**something **_**for your patience. **

Buggy looked up as the sound of running feet drew ever closer to him. For a moment he actually ventured to think that one of his men _hadn't_ failed him, but those hopes were dashed by the anxious looks on the two men's faces as they approached. He vaguely registered them as the men he'd put in charge of guarding their prisoner, and waited for one of them to speak. When neither did, but chose instead to stand nervously before him, he grew irritated.

"What?" He barked. The two jumped and exchanged a panicked look.

"Buggy, sir… the straw-hat boy… well, you see…"

"Spit it out, you flashy imbecile!" Buggy snapped. He was still seething about the fact that none of his men had managed to find the swordsman. Even his most trusted followers hadn't had any luck!

"He's gone, sir." They said in unison, and flinched away from their fate.

A silence fell over the gathered crowd. A few men stepped back nervously, and the two who had skirted their duty of guarding their prisoner with irrational hopes of catching _another_ prisoner looked utterly terrified.

Buggy's head snapped toward them, furious. He grabbed the closest one by the collar, pulling him closer to shout in his face.

"_What do you mean he's gone? He's in a cage!"_

"W-well… about that…"

"That looks kind of heavy." Luffy commented casually as he picked at a string on his shirt. Zoro scoffed over his shoulder, but said nothing, focusing instead on carrying both the cage and the boy trapped inside it. It wasn't really heavy, but the cage was bulky, which made it hard to carry. The fact that he could barely see where he was going didn't help the matter at all.

He felt the boy shift above him, and an arm brushed against the back of his head. The boy hummed to himself, watching in silence as Zoro continued to walk through the woods. They'd left the town behind a long time ago, and both had long since decided that none of Buggy's men were going to catch up with them.

Zoro wasn't particularly fond of the idea of chatting idly with the boy in the cage. He'd decided right off the bat that there was something about Luffy that he didn't like. No, "didn't like" wasn't the correct wording; there was something about Luffy that _troubled_ him. He also decided that he would try to part ways as soon as possible. Still, he found himself scouring his mind for something to talk about, not because he wanted to converse with his unexpected companion, but because Luffy was obviously getting bored, and the more bored he became the more he shifted around. The more he shifted around the harder he was to carry.

"So… where were you?" He asked, hoping that Luffy would do most of the talking, and that the conversation would get him to stop wiggling around. It was a common enough topic, and Zoro didn't even need to elaborate—after all, just about everyone he'd met after The Occurrence asked him where he was when it happened.

"I was at home." Luffy said. He sounded surprisingly happy, so Zoro could only assume that everyone he loved had woken up. A pang of jealously washed over him, but he quickly shoved it away—after all, he didn't know a damn thing about the kid, there was certainly no reason to be jealous of him. "It was great, because I was planning on leaving my hometown soon, anyway, and now I don't have to worry about getting a job!" He laughed a chirpy laugh and Zoro couldn't help but smirk.

"Still, it was great at first and all, but it's kind of lonely, too, if you don't have anyone to travel with. That's why I'm—"

Just when Zoro was beginning to think that Luffy would _sit still_ while he talked the night away, he sat bolt-upright in the cage, grabbing hold of Zoro's arm as his did so. The sudden shift in the cage's center of gravity caused Zoro to lose his grip on the cage—as well as his balance—and sent them both sprawling on the ground. Zoro was the first to recover.

"What the hell, Luffy?"

"We're going the wrong way!" Luffy said as he righted himself in the cage. Zoro almost called him an idiot, shouted at him for saying stupid things that didn't even make sense, but the look on Luffy's face—the absolute distress conveyed in his features—caused the swordsman to reconsider. Instead, he rubbed a tired hand over his eyes, and sighed.

"What do you mean, the wrong way?"

"I have to go to the Rift!" He shouted, pointing back the way they'd come. Zoro frowned.

"There's no way I can get across the Rift while carrying you. Besides, there's no point in going over there, anyway." And he grabbed the bars of one side of the cage, preparing to lift it onto his shoulder once again. Luffy's hands shot out between the bars, grabbing onto Zoro's wrists.

"But I have to get to Haven!" He insisted in earnest. Zoro's mind went blank for a moment, not really understanding.

"Haven?"

"Yeah! It's on the other side of the Rift, just past the trees!" He smiled, looking excited. "We can't see it, because of the trees, but there are a bunch of survivors all gathered there, and they're going to build a new country! You can come too, and—"

"There's no Haven on the other side." Zoro said, and he grabbed the bars of the cage again. All traces of a smile disappeared from Luffy's face, replaced instead by an accusatory glare.

"You liar! What do you know, you've never been there—"

"I lived there!" Zoro yelled, shocking him into silence. "I lived there, and I heard that Haven was on _this_ side of the Rift. It's a bunch of bullshit, there's no Haven there, just like there isn't one _here_!" Zoro pulled on the cage, hoisting it onto his shoulders and positioning it comfortably. The cage was tilted, which caused Luffy to slide down into one corner. There was silence for a moment, before Luffy said, very quietly:

"Leave me here."

"No." Zoro replied, as he continued walking with nonchalance. He felt Luffy's hand close around his own, but ignored it.

"Why not!"

"Because!" Zoro snapped, turning his head to look at him, "I just saved your ass, and I'm not leaving until you're at least out of this cage. Once you can hold your own, I'm getting the hell away from you." Zoro turned away again, hoping to God that Luffy wouldn't ask _why_ he wanted to get away from him as soon as possible. What was he supposed to say, the truth? Because you make me nervous; because you confuse the hell out of me? He doubted that would go over well.

Luffy stayed quiet for a moment, and the hand around his went slack. There were another few moments of oppressive silence, filled only with the sound of Zoro's feet against the dirt. At last, Luffy sighed, and Zoro felt hair brush against his fingers as he bowed his head.

"Did you really come from the other side?" he whispered. Zoro nodded. There wasn't really anything more to say. Odds were that this kid was even more excited with the prospect of a Haven on the other side of the Rift than Zoro had been simply thanks to his honest-to-God belief was that there actually _was_ a Haven. At least Zoro's disappointment had been cushioned somewhat by his own cynicism, but this kid…

"It's out there." Luffy said, startling Zoro with the sudden outburst. "I can tell you don't believe in it, but I know there's a Haven somewhere, and I'm gonna find it."

Zoro nodded again. He never was good at holding conversations with people, even before he was so out of practice, and this kid made him uncomfortable as is. He had no idea what it was that made it so easy to believe him, but although he didn't, at first, believe in his crazy dream, Zoro couldn't shake the feeling that he'd gladly jump through hoops to help him make it come true.

He definitely needed to get away from this kid. He was messing with his head!

Luffy frowned at the back of Zoro's head. The older man seemed to be in deep thought, and he couldn't figure out what the cause of it was. He glanced at the bag that was hung over his shoulder and frowned at its size.

"We still can't keep heading this way." Luffy said.

Without loosing pace, the older man calmly asked why not. He didn't seem all that interested in the answer, but Luffy told him anyway.

"The next town is too far away, you don't have enough supplies!" Luffy said, pointing at his bag. "Not even enough for one person, let alone two!"

"We'll manage." Zoro said, stumbling slightly as his foot caught on a rock. Walking through the woods with a cage on his back was hard, doing it in the dark was damn near impossible. The light from the moon was barely reaching through the trees. Luffy seemed to notice this, and put a hand on Zoro's shoulder.

"Let's stop here." Zoro frowned, all too aware of the contact. Still, despite the fact that Buggy's men were probably still searching for them, it was probably best if they'd wait until morning to continue. He sighed, setting the cage down and sitting down in the grass next to it.

The break was a welcome relief. After all, Zoro had expected to build camp directly after he'd crossed over the Rift. Instead, he'd wandered through a city infested with rioters, made a few quick enemies, and walked for miles through the dark with Luffy _and_ a cage on his back. Needless to say, he could use some sleep.

Unfortunately, the impromptu nature of their situation meant that this wasn't the best place to set up camp—they had none of the supplies Zoro would have liked, and it was too dark to look for them—but he decided that he would make due.

He did, however, manage to find some decent wood to start a fire—and that was all they needed, anyway. He grabbed it up and threw it in a stack between himself and Luffy, then set to digging out his lighter. Luffy watched in silence as Zoro got a flame going. His only reaction was to scoot closer to the fire after Zoro got it started.

Zoro wondered, momentarily, if it would be a good idea to start a fire when they both knew that Buggy and his men were searching for them, but Luffy didn't seem worried, so Zoro decided he wouldn't be either.

Zoro sighed and opened his bag, grabbing a bottle of water for Luffy. His hand hovered over the alcohol for a moment, but he ended up grabbing a water bottle for himself as well.

"Here." He tossed the bottle to Luffy, "And… I'm sorry about earlier, you know, I probably could have used a little more tact—"

"Don't worry about it." Luffy broke into a grin, twisting open the bottle in his hand as he did so, "After all, it would have been worse if I had to find out myself." He drained half the bottle. "I should be thanking you, both for helping me escape and, for warning me that there was no Haven over the Rift. We'll just have to keep looking; after all, the Grand Line's a big place—"

"We?" Zoro cut in before the conversation could get out of hand. "Who's _we?_" Luffy gave him a blank look that quickly developed into a frown. Zoro was startled to see that Luffy looked completely _crestfallen._

"Well, you and me, of course." He said it confidently, but his eyes betrayed him as he asked pensively. "I thought we were going to stay together?"

"I _told_ you that I wasn't staying!" Zoro pointed out. "Don't you listen?"

"Well yeah, but…" Luffy bit his lip, pouting. "I thought you were just upset." He mumbled the last part, shooting Zoro a shifty look. There was something about his expression—the look in his eyes, perhaps?—that made Zoro think that Luffy still believed that Zoro was simply upset. Zoro also decided, right away, that there was no chance in Hell that Luffy would just let the subject drop. Before he could discuss the matter any further, however, Zoro stood from the fire and walked a few feet away, out of the reach of both its light and its warmth.

"I'm tired." That was all Zoro said as he turned his back to him, because anything else might warrant another turn in the conversation and talking any more with this kid was the last thing Zoro wanted to do, especially over the idea of sticking together. Luffy didn't say anything further, but, even though he didn't look, Zoro could feel eyes on his back. He resolved to ignore it. After all, he didn't need the conversation. He didn't need the contact. He didn't need anyone.

He never had.

**And thus another chapter is concluded. Please review and tell me what you think! I'd appreciate it. My mind is still in other fandoms (namely The Losers, and Glee… I am so strange!), but the recent One Piece chapters have re-piqued my interest so I'll try to get the ball rolling on this story. Thanks to those that have or will review, and to those that remain patient with me and my awful updating habits :D**


	6. Trust

**Well, that was a long wait! If anyone is curious, the reason that these chapters are so slow coming is because I have recently been sucked into the awesomeness that is Star Trek. Bad news for OP fans, because my One Piece stories will be slow going, but good new if you like Star Trek (TOS or 2009, I'll be writing for both) so if you're interested in that, go check out my sister's account in my profile. We haven't updated any stories yet but they'll be along shortly. **

**Otherwise, I'll do my best to finish this story without disappointing you guys D: and be sure to tell me if there's anything you would like to see happen! I'm sure I'll be back into the swing of things when One Piece gets of hiatus and the Straw Hats get back together!**

When Zoro was woken up the next morning, he was instantly on edge. He wasn't really aware that Luffy was still sleeping, or that the fire had gone out—not that it was needed any more, and it was well past dawn from the looks of it. The only thing that he _was_ aware of was that he had been woken. Not of his own accord, but by some outward constituent, and that was what put him on edge.

Because if _whatever_ it was that had woken him turned out to be a _whoever_ he knew that he couldn't let his guard down. If it was Buggy, or even some of Buggy's men, Zoro intended to kick their asses as quickly as he could and run, because he really didn't want to face a cannon head on, and he had better things to do with his time than fight a horde of rioters—things like getting Luffy out of the cage so that he could leave with a clear conscience.

Zoro slowly turned his head toward Luffy, bringing a hand to his swords to make certain that they were still there. He didn't want to make it entirely obvious that he had woken up, but he didn't want it to be glaringly obvious that he was guarding his movements while trying to find a hidden assailant that may be in the trees either, as both would probably be detrimental.

So Zoro feigned ignorance, and stretched. Luffy was still fast asleep, and he seemed no worse for wear, so Zoro didn't wake him up. Instead, he closed his eyes and pretended to go back to sleep. And as he did so, he listened.

At first, no sound that was out of place in the area made itself known. The leaves in the trees above him rustled, but not in a way that made Zoro think that anything but the wind had rustled them. A few birds chirped their good-morning, but all else was quiet.

There was a bout of time where no foreign sound reached his ears, but after a few minutes of sitting, unmoving, Zoro though he heard something moving to his left. It wasn't very far away, though it didn't seem to be moving toward him but, rather, away from him.

A twig snapped, and Zoro's eyes snapped open as his arm reached out to grab the offender. He got a handful of fabric and pulled hard, sending the person stumbling backwards. Even as Zoro leapt to his feet, the man was falling to the ground and covering his face with both arms.

"No, please, I'm sorry!" Zoro had drawn one of his swords and, at the sight of it, the teen he'd grabbed squeaked and curled into the fetal position. "I swear I didn't mean anything, I was just passing through!"

Zoro frowned at the display. He was shaking like a leaf. He doubted that this kid had anything to do with the rioters, but appearances could be deceiving, and he wasn't going to take any chances.

"Do you work for Buggy?" He demanded in a serious tone that he hoped would express that he really wasn't in the mood for games. The teen paused in his pleading. There seemed to be a moment of contemplation that made Zoro wary before the teen uncovered his face and propped himself up on his elbows.

He was a lot younger than Zoro had expected, with dark curly hair and, most remarkably, a very long nose. He puffed out his chest and looked Zoro in the eye with confidence.

"That's right! Buggy works under me, the great Usopp! And if you aren't careful, all eight hundred of my men will show up and kill you!" He let out a haughty laugh, and tried to scoot himself out of the reach of Zoro's blade.

"Bullshit." Zoro said. Usopp froze, and, with the realization that he'd been caught in his lie, the look of confidence on his face was overtaken by fear once again. He bowed his head—making a complete one-eighty from his previous attitude—and clapped his hands together.

"Please don't kill me! I don't even know who Buggy is, I was just—"

"Nah, Zoro? Is there someone over there with you?" Usopp's head snapped around when he heard the voiced behind him. He seemed oddly relieved when he saw that the second "assailant" was locked in a cage, but the relief was quickly over taken by what Zoro was sure was apprehension as to _why_ he was in a cage. His eyes went back to Zoro, but the swordsman ignored it.

"It just some guy I found sneaking around—"

"I was doing no such thing!" The teen cut him off, sounding indignant, "I was just walking by and you startled me! It's not every day you find a guy with _three katana_ in your backyard!"

"Hahaha, he sounds cool. Hey, you, come over here!" Luffy cheered, and Usopp hesitated. He glanced at Zoro, then back at Luffy. An idea seemed to flash across Usopp's face, so when his eyes widened and his face adopted a look of shock Zoro had an idea of what the teen was doing, but he gave him the benefit of the doubt nonetheless. As expected, when he turned in the direction of his gaze to look at absolutely nothing, Usopp tried to make a run for it. Zoro was too fast for him, and grabbed him as he tried to run by.

"Quit it." Zoro snapped. "It's not like I'm going to cut your head off…" With that he half-walked-half-dragged Usopp over to Luffy and motioned for him to sit. Luffy was grinning ear-to-ear as Usopp took a seat as far away from Zoro as he could manage.

"I'm Luffy!"

"Usopp…" He mumbled, looking warily at the two of them, with an obvious pout on his face from having his escape plan foiled. "What're you doing here?"

"We're looking for Haven!" Luffy cheered before Zoro had a chance to say anything. He was going to protest the statement on two counts, one because _he _wasn't looking for anything, and, similarly, because _we_ was not an acceptable term, but Luffy continued to cut Zoro off before he even began. "Do you know where it is?" Usopp frowned.

"No… why would I?" Luffy shrugged, rocking back and forth childishly.

"I don't know. I figured you might be looking for it too." Usopp shook his head. He seemed to be relaxing a little after talking with Luffy, which was fine. Maybe he would be able to get the cage door open if they could convince him to trust them, and he could do the same.

"I haven't left my house since The Occurrence… well, at least, not for long periods of time. Just, you know, to get supplies and stuff. And I haven't seen anyone in a couple of months, until I ran into…" He paused. "I don't think I caught your name?"

"Zoro." Usopp nodded affirmation.

"You said we were in you backyard earlier." Zoro stated, making Usopp nearly jump out of his skin. The curly haired boy nodded, and pointed a shaky thumb over his shoulder.

"Yeah, I live right… over there…" He seemed almost not willing to divulge this information. The fact that he did, however, convinced Zoro to continue.

"Do you have anything at your house that could get him out?" He pointed at Luffy.

"Yeah, I've been meaning to ask… why is he in a, uh… cage?" Usopp asked. Luffy shrugged.

"I was locked in this by some rioters, and Zoro didn't get the key when he helped me escape." A look of realization washed over Usopp, and he pointed a finger at Zoro.

"So you mean he didn't…" Zoro raised an eyebrow, and Luffy cocked his head to the side curiously.

"Didn't what?" A pause.

"Never mind." He said quickly, wilting under Zoro's disapproving look. The swordsman didn't even _want_ to know what this kid had been about to say. "I could probably pick the lock if you gave me a little time." Usopp shrugged nonchalantly, but he felt like the glare Zoro was giving him was going to burn a hole through him. Zoro watched the teen squirm under his gaze for a moment before sighing and getting to his feet.

"Okay, sounds good." He said and lifted the cage onto his shoulders. Luffy giggled as he slid down into the corner of the tilted cage and smiled at Usopp.

"Lead the way!" He cheered, pumping a fist into the air and firmly pushing his hat onto his head with the other. The teen got hesitantly to his feet and smiled in a similar way. He marveled at how easily the swordsman seemed to carry the cage on his shoulders, and made a mental note to not get on his bad side.

"My house isn't far…" He said, trying to strike up conversation. When neither of them answered—Zoro, because he didn't feel like talking and Luffy because he didn't catch the hint—Usopp asked them about the first thing that came to mind.

"So… how long have you been locked up in that thing?" Luffy perked up at this and cracked a smile.

"Not long…A couple hours, I guess." This reply didn't seem to appeal to the long nose, because as soon as he heard this he nearly tripped and fell flat. He whirled around, and Zoro almost laughed at the sheet white color his face had adopted.

"But I thought you said that rioters locked you in there!" He shouted. Luffy nodded.

"Yeah, so?"

"So that means they're _near by!_" He nearly screeched, glancing through the trees as though looking for a hidden assailant. Zoro rolled his eyes as Usopp continued in increasing panic. "What if they're looking for you, what if—"

"Well!"Zoro cut in, silencing Usopp's rambling in an attempt to stave off his impending headache, "That's why we want to get him out," He motioned to Luffy, "So if they do find us, it won't be a problem."

"Yeah!" Luffy cheered, "I'll kick their asses!" As if to punctuate this fact, he pumped both fists into the air and struck a pose.

"Settle your ass down. You're hard enough to carry as it is!" Zoro snapped as Luffy continued to shout battle cries from within his iron sect.

"But, what if—"

"Usopp!" The teen stopped mid-sentence. He really did look horrified by the thought of rioters coming to his home—and with good reason, since the kid had already confessed to not leaving his house since The Occurrence. He obviously wasn't one to take risks. "There's nothing to worry about accept getting Luffy out of this cage, okay? Everything else is noise."

The teen looked at him as though unsure whether he should believe him or not, but nodded nonetheless and reluctantly continued leading them to their destination… wherever that was. Zoro followed slightly behind, wondering all the while whether this Usopp kid could be trusted.

**Please review, tell me what you think so far!**


	7. Open Invitation

**Hmmm… okay. I'm no longer actively writing this story, as I'm sure you've gathered, because I'm too busy to do so. I'm told that Junior year is the worst, and that Senior year will be easier, so you can at least expect more active participation on my part over the summer, and maybed during the next school year as well.**

**In any case, thanks to those that have stuck with the story, and those that are willing to review. I'll do my best to update this story for your sake, but I am very busy right now. I'm sure some of you know how that goes and are willing to be a little sympathetic. **

Usopp stumbled up the slight slope that his house was positioned on. It wasn't overly steep, but just slanted enough to make it somewhat difficult to scale without a free hand to keep steady. It also served as a nice vantage point to protect his house. Originally, the height was simply to prevent flooding when the river near his house swelled in the spring. Now however, after The Occurrence, Usopp was happy to have the height advantage, slight as it was.

When he reached the top, the long nosed teen turned to try and help his guests—which, he had grudgingly decided they were—only to find that the swordsman was doing perfectly fine on his own. He had to admit, on top of the man's obvious strength, he also had very good balance. Usopp waited as Zoro climbed easily after him without the use of his hands, but still as though he were walking on entirely level ground.

He watched as the swordsman dropped the cage and its inhabitant unceremoniously onto the ground. A small whine escaped Luffy's throat as the cage tipped onto its side and his hat rolled off his head and just out of reach. Zoro snorted at Luffy's protest of the treatment and nudged the hat closer to the teen with his foot, and then he took a seat at Usopp's porch. The long nose shuddered at the irritated look on the man's face, and nearly jumped out of his skin when he realized it was directed at him.

"Well? You said you could open the cage."

Zoro prodded, and Usopp responded with a quick and mumbled: "Sorry, I'll get on that," before he clamored through the door and into his house. The second the screen door swung shut Luffy turned on Zoro. He almost seemed concerned.

"What's wrong with you?" he asked, pressing his forehead against the bars of the cage. "You seem upset." Luffy watched his companion's eyebrow twitch, and his jaw set. He shrugged and turned away.

"Nothing's wrong. I just want to get out of here." Zoro said. Of course, that wasn't entirely true. Something _was _wrong. His problem was that he couldn't place _what _was wrong. He eyed the cage and the boy inside it, already planning on the best way to make his exit after his charge had been freed.

After all, his best guess as to what was wrong was that after months of limited contact with people, it was simply difficult for him to try and get reacquainted with having a companion with him at all times. By that logic, the sooner he could take his leave the better.

At that moment Usopp reappeared at the door with an armful of different tools, half of which Zoro knew wouldn't be helpful in hacking the lock on the cage. He flashed a haughty grin and threw the tools down next to the cage.

"I'll have you out in no time! I have tons of experience at opening locks _much_ more complex than this measly thing." He kicked the bottom of the cage door for effect.

Usopp obviously wasn't an expert on picking locks, but Zoro let him try his hand at it anyway. After all, Zoro had no experience at all, and there was no way he could cut through the cage's bars without damaging his swords. If only he'd been able to continue his training, she could have taught him…

Zoro shook his head and stood from the porch, clearing his mind of any trace of those thoughts. He glanced at the two younger men as they both focused intently on the cage's lock—one with his tongue pinched between his teeth in concentration, the other starry-eyed at his boasted 'lock-picking skills and expertise'.

His original wariness with Usopp had disappeared after he'd gotten to know him, and Zoro no longer doubted that he could be trusted, even if he did come off as a little idiotic at times. Without drawing Luffy's interest, Zoro slipped past the porch and around the corner. Usopp watched him go but said nothing, and Luffy didn't notice, as his back was to the swordsman. Zoro figured it would be easier to part ways without the annoying goodbyes.

He hurried down the slope in the opposite direction from which he'd come, taking the distance between the house and the trees in a few long strides. When he realized that he was rushing, he stopped completely. He didn't need to hurry—it wasn't like he was _running_ from something. Or someone.

For a moment, Zoro turned to look back, pondering whether he should stay or go. He didn't really want to leave but—Zoro sighed and turned away again. He knew that he shouldn't associate with other people—he'd survived this long by worrying about himself only, and companions would only drag him down; the fact that he _wanted _to stay meant that it was time to go.

Moments after the swordsman left, Usopp gave out a triumphant 'ha!' as the cage door popped open. He and Luffy both cheered at the accomplishment and Luffy leapt out, kicking the door shut behind him.

"I'm free!" he cheered, pumping a fist into the air, "Hey, Zoro!" Luffy turned to the porch, only to stop short when he realized that the swordsman was no longer there. A quick surveillance of the area confirmed that he was gone. He turned back to Usopp with a confused look. "Where'd Zoro go?" Usopp shrugged, pointing in the direction he'd seen the man go earlier.

"He went that way. I think he was leaving." Usopp said.

"That jerk, he left without me!" Luffy said indignantly. He instantly started in the direction that Usopp had pointed, but paused after a few strides. "Do you want to come with us? We can go and find Haven together."

Usopp froze at the suggestion. He glanced at Luffy, and then in the direction that Zoro had gone. For some reason, he got the feeling that Luffy wasn't nearly as welcome as Zoro's companion as he thought he was. After all, the guy had just left without him…

"That's okay!" Luffy cheered, "You don't have to decide right this second. I'll go get Zoro and when we get back, you can tell us if you want to come then!" Without a second thought, he bounded off into the trees.

"Wait, Luffy, I don't think I should…" Usopp called after him, but he'd already disappeared. Damn that kid was fast. Usopp sighed and grabbed up the tools he'd been using to open the cage, starting inside to put them away. He'd just decline Luffy's offer when he got back.

Usopp went up the steps and into the house. It was a small, four room building with a basement and an attic—neither of which he had any use for. After all, he was only one person, and he only has so much stuff to fill his modest lifestyle. He'd lived here all of his life, and there was no way he was leaving now, especially after The Occurrence. Even if Luffy and Zoro seemed like decent people, he didn't want to get mixed up in anything but his normal and admittedly safe lifestyle.

The teen placed the tools on the counter, intending to put them away later on in the day. Right now, he needed to relax and try to forget about the offer he'd gotten a few moments earlier. He could see all of the ways that it would be a bad idea, but at the same time, he could see plenty of benefits. Friends, adventure, maybe even Haven. Would it be that bad an offer to accept? Outside, he heard the sound of footsteps on the porch.

"Wow, Luffy, you're really fast." Usopp said, going to the door to meet him. "Did you find Zor—" When he pulled the door open, Usopp immediately regretted not grabbing some kind of weapon. He was met by two complete strangers, both of which were very garishly dress and, more notably, carrying brightly colored but very real swords at their sides.

"Hey there, kid. It just so happens that we're _looking _for a kid named Luffy." He grabbed Usopp's shirt and dragged him onto the porch. The teen let out a little squeak, but was quickly silenced by the second stranger. "Let's have a little chat."

"Zoro!" Luffy cried and he stormed off into the trees. He _knew_ that Zoro wasn't that far ahead of him, but the swordsman refused to answer his calls. He wasn't stupid—he remembered perfectly well their argument a day earlier, when Zoro told him that as soon as he could hold his own he would leave.

Well, now that he was out of the cage, Luffy could only assume that he was fulfilling that promise. Still, he wasn't going to just let Zoro leave. After all, no one should have to be all alone, and anyone that preferred solitude didn't know what camaraderie was like.

When Zoro heard Luffy calling him, he considered, for a short moment, the idea of running away, but Zoro definitely wasn't _running—_especially from Luffy—so he turned back in the direction of the sound and waited.

It took Luffy a moment to see him, but when he did the shorter teen ran up to him with a blinding grin—he was completely ignoring the frown on Zoro's face.

"What do you want?" Zoro asked and, now that Luffy had caught up with him, he turned and started walking.

"What do you mean?" Luffy grinned. "I'm coming with you." He smirked, knowing it would get a rise out of the swordsman. As expected, he stopped and whirled on Luffy.

"No, you're not. I already told you, I'm leaving and you're _not _coming with." Zoro said. He didn't sound angry or irritated, just troubled. Luffy took this as a good sign.

"Well, I know you already said that but—"

"You are so damn stubborn!" Zoro snapped, cutting Luffy off. The teen was shocked by the outburst, and didn't have a chance to respond before Zoro continued. "I _told _you I'm leaving, which means leave me the hell alone, I don't want to hang around with you!"

"You do too." Luffy said, though he didn't really know that. All he knew was that he wanted Zoro to want to hang around. Zoro let out a hissing breath.

"No, I don't." No matter how determined it sounded, the statement was betrayed by his eyes. "You _think _I do, but I can't hang around with you, Luffy. Leave."

"I thought you said you don't want to, but now you _can't._ Which is it?"

"Both."

"Liar!" Zoro scowled.

"So what if I am? Quit acting like you can get whatever you want."

"If it's what you want too, it shouldn't matter." Luffy muttered, staring intently at the leaves. "Besides we were just getting to know each other… I mean… "

"What makes you so certain that it's what I want?" Luffy smiled a little and waved a hand at Zoro.

"Because if I wasn't, you would have already left." For a moment, they just stared at each other, neither moving to leave or speak. After a long moment, Zoro sighed and ran a hand through his hair. He took a seat on a fallen tree, and Luffy sat down in the grass in front of him.

"I can't stay."

"Why?" Luffy asked. He waited through the pause that followed the question, studying Zoro's face for any change in emotion. There was none. The swordsman drummed his fingers on his knee, thinking. After a pause, he said:

"Luffy, what's the longest you've traveled with someone since The Occurrence?" It wasn't the response Luffy was expecting. Luffy cocked his head to the side, a little taken aback at the seemingly random question.

"A couple weeks, I guess."

"And why is that?" Zoro asked, a very serious expression crossing his face.

"Because every time I start traveling with someone, they either leave or…" Luffy trailed off, averting his gaze.

"Exactly." Zoro nodded. "Those that leave—travel alone—they live, because those are the ones that look out for, and can take care of themselves. And everyone else, the ones that are too weak or too humanitarian to do what needs to be done—those are the ones that don't make it.

"So what?" Luffy asked, standing up. "Maybe teaming up with someone weaker could hurt you, but I can hold my own. I can help you, and we can find the Haven together so you won't have to be alone—"

"I _want _to be alone."

"_No one _wants to be alone! Quit making up excuses, I don't buy it—hell, it's obvious even _you_ don't buy it. If you wanted to be alone you wouldn't have even bothered to help me escape from those rioters, you would have just walked by."

"That's not why I helped you." The moment the response left his mouth, Zoro regretted it, because he knew what was coming next. Even with forewarning, he couldn't come up with a response to Luffy's next question, which came like clockwork:

"Then why did you?" He didn't know what to say, and he didn't have a decent lie, so Zoro decided to go with the truth.

"I don't really know…" Luffy rolled his eyes with a scoff, "I don't have a reason. Not a good one anyway."

"Then give me a bad reason, and I'll leave you alone."

"It seemed like the right thing to do." Zoro marveled at how easily the answer came out, and how right it felt. Because although it didn't make a lot of sense, it just felt like the right answer—just like it had felt like the right thing to do when he helped Luffy escape.

"I've noticed," Zoro continued, "ever since I first saw you, there was something about you that, well… it's confusing. I hadn't even spoken to you, and I was willing to take on a group of rioters to help you. I knew damn well Haven doesn't exist, yet you have me thinking like it was common knowledge that it does.

Luffy seemed stunned for a moment, but quickly regained his composure. "Alright. I'll leave." Luffy paused to make eye-contact. "But if you change your mind I… got the same feeling about you. It'd be nice to see where this might go. We could have been friends."

Zoro watched pensively as Luffy turned to leave. His fingers drummed methodically against his knee, as they had been since he'd sat down. Luffy'd said that he felt the same way, but that almost made things worse.

For as long as Zoro could remember, he'd only actually connected with a few people, and only one person had made a huge impression on him. He'd had the same feeling when he'd first met her that he did when he met Luffy. When she died, he'd almost lost himself. In fact, the only thing that kept him going was the will to live on for her, and the knowledge that she would have wanted him to do so.

So what if he did go with Luffy? He'd joined a few small groups of people early on into his 'new' life, and those alliances all ended the same way. The group thought they were invincible—there's power in numbers, after all—and then they'd get careless and stupid, and someone would end up dead. Zoro really, didn't want a repeat of past events, and as cliché as it sounded, he doubted he could handle going through that again. It was easy with random strangers; it was a lot harder with close friends.

Zoro had never really needed anybody—not after Kuina died. And yet, he still found himself standing from his seat on the log, and running after Luffy. If this was a mistake, then he'd find out soon enough, and he'd never have to deal with this kind of situation again, because he wouldn't be stupid enough to put himself into it in the first place.

"Luffy, wait." Luffy turned so quickly that his hat flew off his head, only to be caught by a drawstring around the neck. He was grinning ear-to-ear. "I'll give it a week," Zoro said nonchalantly. "and we'll see how it goes." Luffy agreed, throwing an arm around Zoro as though they were old buddies. Not being the type to dwell on an argument, he recovered quickly and changed the subject.

"Great! Now let's go get Usopp!"

"Usopp!" Luffy called, bounding back to the familiar house. The area was quiet for a long moment before the sniper emerged from his house. Zoro noticed that he seemed much less relaxed than he had been when he'd left. Before Luffy could say anything, he raised a hand to cut him off.

"I can't come with you." Usopp said, "I'm going to stay here, where it's safe but…" He hesitated a moment, as though considering what he was saying very carefully. He must have come to terms with whatever thought was going through his mind, because he continued, "…but I will tell you this. I heard a while back that a bunch of people were gathering in Logue Town. I don't know if it's the Haven you're looking for, but I'd check it out if I were you."

Luffy beamed, slapping Usopp on the back. Never had a man looked so guilty after giving someone directions, and Zoro noticed this. After a moment of studying the teens face, he realized that it looked less like guilt, and more like regret. He probably wanted to come along and didn't know it, just like Zoro had.

"Luffy, let's go." He said, motioning for the boy to come with him. He wasn't going to make the decision for Usopp to come with for him, and Luffy obviously didn't catch the hint. Before they left, however, Luffy was sure to turn back and assure Usopp that he was welcome to join them any time he wanted, though the odds of him finding them were very slim. Luffy didn't seem to realize this.

Usopp watched the two go nervously. He considered, for one insane moment, the idea of warning them that it was a trap, and that they should avoid Logue Town entirely.

"_I know those two are coming back here, and when they do, you're going to tell them to come to Logue Town." The rioter seemed overconfident, and despite the situation Usopp couldn't help but wonder why they would want him to send Luffy and Zoro into a trap if they knew the two were coming back. He didn't dare voice this question; he was too busy trying not to breathe incorrectly, lest it push these two the wrong way. "If you want to keep living in you little house without having to worry about rioters attacking your home, you'll tell them to come. You understand?"_

_He very much wanted to continue living the way he had been up until now. Usopp was starting to wish he'd never met the two. In any other situation, he might have taken up Luffy's offer to join them, but there was no way he was going against an entire group of rioters to do so._

_Reluctantly, Usopp nodded to the two men, and they released the grip they had on his shirt, backing away. "Yeah, I understand."_


	8. Just a Sword

**Here's another chapter. It's slow going, but thanks for sticking with me!**

They hadn't been walking for long before Zoro realized that they were being followed. Having chosen to take the established road to Logue Town in order to avoid getting lost, Zoro was well aware of the consequences, and he had expected that such a conspicuous path may draw attention eventually. However, he hadn't expected it to happen so quickly.

Luckily, this person didn't seem to be much of a threat. As far as he could see, they didn't have a weapon, and they'd been following them for miles without confrontation, so he could only assume that they didn't intend to confront them at all.

It still surprised him how many stand-alone people he'd met in the Grand Line in so little time. Although three people—discounting the rioters who, in Zoro's mind, hardly counted—wasn't an overly large number, it was still substantially higher than the no people in three months he'd experienced on the other side of the rift. This sudden increase, he could only assume, had to do with crossing into the Grand Line.

Zoro wondered if Luffy, who'd been oddly quiet for a while now, had noticed the person running from tree to tree about thirty meters behind them, but when he saw Luffy glance carefully over, he decided to bring it up.

"We're being followed." Zoro said, tipping his head back. Luffy nodded.

"Yeah, just leave her be. I don't think she wants trouble."

"Her?" Zoro asked. He hadn't actually gotten a good look at the person, despite her recklessness in following them.

"Yeah, she's not very good at tailing people." He laughed. "If she wanted to join us, she would have come out of hiding already. She's probably just going in the same direction as us."

"I got the same feeling." Zoro said, eyeing the tree he believed their pursuer was hiding behind. "But keep an eye on her, just in case."

And keep an eye on her he had. It wasn't hard to keep tabs on the girl, after all she really was awful at being stealthy, and her bright orange hair wasn't exactly ideal for hiding in green bushes. Still there was one instance where Zoro almost allowed her to know that they were on to her, when he lost sight of her completely, and Luffy admitted that he had long since stopped watching her. However, after a few moments of paranoia a twig snapped ahead of them—how she had gotten ahead of them was beyond him—and Zoro had continued on, only half-listening to Luffy as he chattered on.

He had to give her credit, she had fairly good stamina. She'd managed to keep pace with them for all the time that she had been following them—nearly all day. On top of that, it was clear that she wasn't going to be stopping any time soon. Still, he had to wonder: if she was just going in the same direction, why hadn't she moved on?

She'd had an entire day to part ways with them, and if she truly didn't want any trouble, he couldn't fathom why she continued to stick so close.

Needless to say, the longer she followed them from the shadows and refused to show herself save for the long shadows that peeked through the trees at their backs—despite the fact that she'd had numerous opportunities to make herself known—the less he trusted her. Sure, a woman all alone in a world like this one had to be careful, but that didn't explain why she hadn't stopped to wait for the "danger" to pass.

"…and that's why I've decided to kill and eat you." Zoro turned to shoot a skeptical look at Luffy. "Oh, so you were listening." Luffy laughed matter-of-factly. "I thought you were ignoring me."

"Only half-listening." Zoro admitted. Luffy sighed.

"Well, cut it out! She's not that interesting." Luffy said, stopping short with a pout. "In fact, I'll go talk to her right now." Before he could turn around Zoro grabbed his shoulder and gave him a push in the other direction.

"Don't." He warned, half pulling him along. "I don't want to start any trouble. We can stop here—if she's only following us because she's going in the same direction, she should just walk by."

He didn't particularly care what this mystery-woman chose to do, but her not-so-quiet circling of their makeshift campsite was starting to irritate him. Not only had she not continued past them, she had decided to lurk in the shadows outside their camp. There was no way she didn't want something from them. It didn't make much sense for her to stay back in the cold, dark trees when she could just as easily join them by the fire. It's not like they were going to bite.

A twig snapped, and the girl froze somewhere behind him, as all indication of movement ceased. Zoro let out a suffering sigh and glanced at Luffy, who just shrugged and continued eating.

"Why don't you stop lurking in the bushes already?" Luffy called into the darkness. There was a stillness, in which the crackling of the fire was the only noise louder than the crickets behind them and then, slowly, a figure emerged between two trees behind Zoro. He didn't turn to greet her. Luffy offered an offhanded wave, but was otherwise too distracted with his meal to care.

"How did you know I was here?" She asked, her voice dangerous. Zoro smirked.

"Are you kidding? You've been following us all day." He said, half-turning to the girl to give her a smug look, "but if you don't want to join us that's fine by me. You're not really welcome, anyway."

"Zoro!" Luffy scolded, throwing a twig in his general direction. "Forget him," Luffy said as he swatted the twig Zoro used as return fire out of the air, "You should join us." He paused and then added "We're looking for Haven." As though the mere mention of their goal would ensure that she would join them. Zoro expected her to scoff and run off into the trees, but to his surprise, she actually seemed interested.

"Haven? You're looking for Haven too?" She beamed, stepping closer, but stopping just out of the glow of the fire.

"Yeah!" Luffy said, all too excited at the prospect of having someone to talk with. "We're going to Louge Town." The woman's smile didn't falter, but her eyes flashed dangerously in the darkness. Neither of them noticed as she walked carefully around Zoro and went to sit near Luffy.

"That's where I'm going, too." She said, pulling her hair out of her face, "I'm Nami." Zoro ignored the introduction entirely, and when it became apparent that he had no intention of welcoming her, Luffy took initiative.

"He's Zoro." He said, pointing at the swordsman.

"I'd gathered that much." Nami said sweetly.

"And I'm Luffy! Nice to meet you!" Luffy laughed and accepted her outstretched hand for a quick handshake. She offered her hand to Zoro next, but he simply stared at it for a moment before locking eyes with her.

"I don't like you, nor do I trust you." He motioned to her hand, "put that away." Reluctantly, she complied, glancing pensively toward Luffy. The boy shrugged it off as normal.

"What, exactly, do you want from us? You weren't following us all day for nothing." Zoro asked.

"What do I want?" Nami parroted, "I want to join you. I'm not traveling with anyone, but I don't want to travel alone." She smiled sweetly, "I had to make sure you were good people, first. A woman like me, traveling all alone… I mean, you can imagine—"

"Cut the theatrics." Zoro spat, cutting her off. She clicked her tongue and gave him an amused smile, quickly finishing what she was saying.

"That's why I was following you." Zoro scowled as Luffy's face split into a grin. They responded simultaneously:

"You're not coming along."

"Sure! You can join!" Zoro scowled, pointing an accusatory finger at Luffy.

"Oh, no! She's not coming with us." He snapped. "If she comes, I go."

"Zoro, stop it. You're being silly—"

"_Silly, _Luffy? Really? I'm not being "silly", I'm serious." Zoro stood from his spot by the fire to relocate just out of its light, signaling that his half of the conversation was ended. Luffy recognized this from earlier—it seemed to be becoming a habit—and turned the subject away from the swordsman.

"Don't worry about Zoro. You'll grow on him." Nami smirked.

"And he'll grow on me, I'm sure." Luffy nodded vigorously, grinning. He'd obviously missed the sarcasm of the comment.

"So, Nami, have you seen anyone around lately? Did you ask them about Haven?" Luffy asked, rocking forward in his seat. Nami paused before replying.

"I was traveling with someone but we… parted ways. He didn't know anything more about Haven than I do." She said, her expression darkening, "I haven't seen anyone else."

Zoro raised an eyebrow but said nothing, sliding further down against the tree he was leaning against.

"That's okay." He heard Luffy say, "You're a part of our crew now!" Zoro shot him a look, which he ignored.

"Crew, huh?" Nami asked. "Is that what you call it?"

He set his swords beside him, and resolved to tune the two out as they continued their conversation. I wasn't of any interest to him, anyway.

Zoro wasn't entirely sure when he had eventually dozed off, nor did he know what time it was when he woke up. It was still dark, and the fire had died down after a few hours of neglect, so the only light was a faint glow from the embers that had yet to die out.

He glanced toward the sound of Luffy snoring softly—nothing out of the ordinary there. The only real "problem" was the fact that their new guest was missing, which would have been good news, but he could wager a guess that some if not all of their supplies were gone as well, although he hadn't actually checked. For all that she'd seemed _really_ interested in joining them, Nami has split pretty quickly.

Zoro groaned and rubbed a tired hand over his eyes, fighting the urge to cuss Luffy out for trusting that girl in the first place. He _knew _she was trouble, no doubt about that, but Luffy had completely ignored that fact.

Still, maybe—and this was a _big _maybe—she was entirely trustworthy and she'd just… gone to the bathroom or something. Zoro glanced around in an attempt to confirm this, before grudgingly leaving his comfortable place against the tree to go have a look around. With a sigh, he stooped to grab his swords.

The stream of curses was loud enough to rouse Luffy from sleep, which was a feat in itself. He woke up just in time to be hauled off the ground by his shirt collar.

"That Bitch! You little _friend_ stole my sword!"

"Where are you going?" Luffy sat, tongue in cheek, as he watched Zoro scramble around the camp. He idly nudged the fire pit, which he had just managed to restart and was burning steadily.

"To get my sword back." Zoro snapped, grabbing his bag, and added as an afterthought: "You can come along."

"How will you find her?" Luffy glanced around the darkness, conveying the unspoken message that, yeah, it was dark, and not the best conditions for a game of hide-and-seek.

"I don't know yet." Luffy sighed and stood up, throwing his arms up in resignation. All this fuss over nothing—he'd taken Zoro as the kind of guy that wouldn't sweat the small details, for all that he acted like he was quick to anger.

"What's the big deal, its just one sword. You have two others." The moment it left his lips, Luffy regretted it. Zoro instantly stilled, his formerly frantic demeanor left behind as he turned on Luffy with a chilling—disappointed—look.

"It's not just one sword." He looked like he wanted to continue—like he _needed _to continue—but Zoro just turned to the fire and grabbed a suitable stick, burning on one end, and headed off into the trees. It wasn't much of a torch, and Zoro knew that, but he obviously didn't care in the least.

Luffy sighed, mourning the loss of a good nights sleep, and trotted after Zoro. He was headed in the same direction they had earlier that day, because although they obviously couldn't hold her to her word, she had said she was headed that way. It was the only real lead they had, and they needed a lead.

Luffy glanced sidelong toward Zoro all the while trying to keep up without tripping in the darkness. Eventually, he would ask what it was that made this sword so special. But for now, Zoro had plenty on his mind, and Luffy wasn't going to bother him for an explanation.

All at once Zoro stopped and stood stark-still. A shower of embers flew from the end of their makeshift torch, most burning out before they touched the ground. Luffy stomped out a particularly determined ember before it ever had a chance to catch fire, and Zoro shushed him for his efforts.

The irritation was evident in Luffy's expression, and Zoro quickly waved him off, mumbling guardedly that he thought he'd heard something. There was another bout of silence in which both Luffy and Zoro listened in the darkness. A twig snapped, and both heads snapped in the direction of the noise, confirming that there had been something to the sound.

The creator of the sound was obviously aware that its hiding place had been discovered as the sound of frantically retreating footsteps replaced the silence. Zoro was off like a shot with a newfound vigor while Luffy followed close behind. They pushed through the foliage in pursuit, destroying a good deal of that which crossed their paths. Despite their efforts, the pursuit didn't seem to be getting them anywhere, and the fact that both of them were aware that they may be chasing ghosts made matters worse.

They couldn't have been running for more than a minute before Luffy was suddenly aware of the sound growing fainter ahead of them. They obviously didn't know the area as well as the other, and they were going to lose it. Could Nami so easily outrun then like this? He doubted it.

"Zoro," Luffy snapped, jumping over a fallen log, "This is stupid! That probably isn't even her." Zoro growled and changed directions, as whatever they were pursing did the same. The woods abruptly gave way to a grassy clearing, and Luffy thought he saw a glimpse of whatever they were chasing in the darkness ahead of them, but the makeshift-torch Zoro was carrying barely reached that far, so he couldn't be sure.

Luffy's eyes widened when he saw, at the very edge of the clearing, the gorge that they were being led towards. Luffy slowed even as Zoro began to sprint, and the black haired teen watched as he took the gorge at a run and just barely managed to make the leap. The torch fell into the gorge, placing them both into darkness.

"Oh, come on, Zoro! That isn't her!" Luffy yelled, even as Zoro disappeared into the trees on the other side. He paced the edge for a moment—wondering whether it was worth it to try to follow now that he'd completely lost them—and let out a sigh, kicking a clump a dirt into the hole as he did so. He grudgingly took a seat by the edge, wondering vaguely if Zoro would bother coming back or if he would be better off trying to hunt him down.

A slight scraping sound drew his attention, and Luffy watched quietly as a small figure crawled from the gorge a few feet away, clinging to the edge anxiously. Even in the darkness Luffy could at least make out that he was a young boy—much smaller than he or Zoro—and he was wearing a pink top hat sporting a set of antlers that protruded from the sides. Luffy grinned at the boy, who had yet to notice him. Yep, that definitely _wasn't _Nami.

**I gave it some consideration and decided that it would be better if Chopper was a human boy rather than a reindeer in this particular story because it works out the better than any other option :D Please review.**


	9. Character

**The only mildly anticipated next chapter—tada! Enjoy, Read, and Review.**

Luffy watched for a moment as the boy hefted one leg up and pulled himself up, sliding on his stomach. He rolled a little ways away from the edge and huffed a sigh of relief.

"Hiya. Cool hat." Luffy said. The child squealed and half-rolled half-leapt to his feet. He darted behind the nearest tree. Despite the low light he could clearly see the child peeking around the trunk. Luffy couldn't help but laugh,

"What are you doing? I promise I won't take it, if that's what your worried about. I've got my own." He pointed at the straw hat for emphasis.

The child eyed him warily for a long moment, unsure how to react to Luffy's laid back attempt at conversation. "I'm…hiding…" He glanced down at himself and inched a little further behind the tree. "Why are you chasing me?"

Luffy laughed again and shrugged, "Because you were running?" He cocked his head to the side and raised an eyebrow, "What's your name, kid?"

"It's Chopper," he said, "and that's not a very good reason to chase someone."

"Yeah, well, my friend and I thought you were someone else…" Luffy said, trailing off at the end of the statement as realized that Zoro was probably still looking for Nami. Luffy squinted into the darkness, searching for any signs of him returning. He saw none. "I guess it doesn't matter anymore… Hey, what are you doing out here, all alone at night?"

Chopper perked up at the question, stepping just a bit away from the tree. He pulled his backpack off and set it on the ground in front of him. He opened it and showed Luffy what looked like…just a bunch of leaves, actually.

"I was out looking for supplies and I guess I lost track of time, so I started heading home when it started to get dark… I noticed the light from your fire on my way." He shrugged sheepishly, "I sorta got curious, I guess."

"Do you live around here?" Luffy asked excitedly. Chopper nodded. "Awesome! I just need to go clean up my campsite and then we can go!"

With that Luffy sauntered back in the direction he came from. Chopped squeaked in surprise and hurried after him.

"I don't know if that's such a good idea." He said, tugging on Luffy's hand in an attempt to get him to stop. Luffy didn't break his stride, but he did offer Chopper a grin.

"Why wouldn't it be?" He asked.

Luffy stepped into the clearing that they'd settled into for the night. The fire was dying, but the remaining embers illuminated the worry on Chopper's face.

"Well, Dr. Kureha doesn't exactly like strangers dropping by all that much…"

"Who's that?" Luffy asked, but he cut Chopper off before he could answer him. "Anyways, I'm Luffy! There, now we're not strangers."

Chopper paused at that logic, unsure quite how to respond. Luffy smiled, taking it as a victory as he toed dirt onto the remains of the fire.

"Great. Let's go then." Luffy said. Chopper huffed a sigh.

"I…guess that makes sense. Fine. You can come over." He pursed his lips a little and gave Luffy a stern look, "But not for too long, okay?"

"It's a deal. Just… gimme a second." Luffy said.

Chopper eyed Luffy with curiosity as he wandered around the clearing. After a moment of searching he stooped over to pick up a reasonably large stone.

"Which way are we headed?" Chopper pointed, and following his finger, Luffy etched an arrow into the tree with the sharp edge of the rock. He stepped back to appraise his work, then nodded in satisfaction.

"What's that for?" Chopper asked. Luffy's gaze shifted to the darkness just beyond the trees.

"Just in case." Luffy responded. "Ready to go?"

They moved quickly through the trees. It was obvious that Chopper knew this area well. Though the walk was not particularly long, Luffy found it difficult to follow at times as Chopper ducked and weaved along a path that, at times, only a child would be able to follow.

Luffy had just finished untangling himself from the brambles of a dead tree Chopper had lead him under when he found himself in front of a log cabin.

"Come on." Chopper waved him forward and Luffy followed him toward the house.

The sun was just beginning to rise on the forest and Zoro had yet to find Nami. Or Luffy, for that matter. He'd stopped chasing _whatever _it was he was tailing when it became completely apparent that not only had it lost him, but they both had lost Luffy.

That was a couple hours ago, and Zoro had been wandering through the woods since then, trying to find Luffy or the girl—though his sword was at the forefront of his thoughts—and he had failed to do either.

Zoro stumbled on a fallen tree branch, letting out an irritated curse, and quickly drew a sword to slash it in half in his frustration. He kicked the two halves out of his way and continued forward, satisfied. The path he was following was even starting to look a little familiar, which was probably a good sign.

It meant he was going in the right direction. That, or he was going in circles, but Zoro had been very careful to avoid doing just that, so he doubted the latter. Although, his definition of the "right direction" hadn't been entirely straightforward lately.

On the one hand, he knew that should probably go to where he saw Luffy last, and regroup with him, because he really had no idea where Nami—and his sword—was, and he had no way of tracking her down short of sheer, dumb luck.

On the other hand, he wanted to keep looking for his sword, and to find it, more than anything, because it wasn't _his _sword. It was borrowed, and he couldn't live with himself if he lost it completely.

Sure, his chance of achieving their dream of becoming the greatest swordsman was slim after The Occurrence—hell, he was probably pretty damn close to the title through disqualification alone—but that was all the more reason to keep her sword with him. Because when he found his purpose in this new life, she had to be there with him, if only in spirit.

Maybe he was already on his way to doing that with Luffy, but he needed to get her sword back first. Zoro huffed angrily and glanced up at the sky to verify that the largest cloud was still directly in front of him. Satisfied, he continued in the same direction at a quicker pace, paying no mind as he passed two halves of a precisely cut fallen tree branch.

"Who's the old lady?" Luffy asked. A pan came sailing from the direction of the kitchen as a response to the question. Chopper squealed and ran further inside the house.

"Ahh, Doctorine, be careful with that!"

"Who do you think you're calling old, boy?" Kureha eyed Luffy from where she stood in the kitchen. She took a long swig from a bottle of plum sake she grabbed off the counter. She turned her attention back to Chopper, "You were gone quite a while." She stated.

"Yeah…sorry. I lost track of time, but I found some really good stuff!" Chopper pulled his backpack off and scurried over to the kitchen table. He dumped the contents out on top of it.

"What do you need a bunch of leaves for?" Luffy asked, watching curiously as Chopper spread the pile out.

"It's for making medicine. Doctorine and I—"

"Chopper." Kureha cut him off curtly. "Who is this and why is he here." Though phrased as a question, it sounded nothing like one, and Chopper sprung to answer.

"This is Luffy. I was walking home and he mistook me for someone else and started chasing me, so I…" He trailed off at the look on her face and changed his approach, "Doctornine?"

"Why don't you go outside and get some more wood for the fireplace, Chopper." He paused for a moment before nodding. She watched him go, waiting until the door closed before she stepped from the kitchen. Kureha took another long drink from her bottle before speaking.

"What's your aim here, kid, because I'm too damn old to be playing games." Kureha raised an eyebrow at Luffy.

"I'm just passing through, looking for Haven." Luffy responded. He shot her a grin, challenging her to laugh at his goal. She said nothing for a long moment. Then she stepped forward and lowered herself down into a chair.

"Hnn…Haven, huh?" She took another drink and closed her eyes for a moment. "He likes you, you know." Luffy tilted his head to the side, curious as to where she was going with this.

"Of all my life, I've never met anyone that was a better judge of character than that kid." She leveled her gaze on Luffy. "I have something I need to ask of you. And it's a lot to ask."

"Sure. Ask away." Luffy said.

"I'm not getting any younger." Was all she said, and she closed her eyes again, pinching the bridge of her nose as she did so. She sat that way, in silence, until a sound at the front door signaled Chopper's return. He pushed through the door with an armful of wood, smiling cheerily.

Luffy stared blankly at Kureha for a long moment, glancing only briefly at Chopper. Suddenly Luffy perked up, smiling, as though he'd finally come to make up his mind.

"I'm searching for Haven. Come with me, Chopper."

**Not a lot of meat in this chapter, but I just had to get it written and out of the way before I could continue. Thanks to everyone who is still reading and reviewing. Without you guys I'm not sure this story would even get finished! **


	10. The Man in the Cellar

**Yet another chapter. Enjoy.**

"…Come with you?" Chopper squeaked. The wood in his arms clattered to the ground. He stared at Luffy in shock, and though his eyes darted unsurely to Kureha, he faltered when he saw her nod slightly.

"No…I, I mean...I can't." He turned to Kureha, "Tell him I can't, Doctorine." She sighed heavily, and Chopper raised his voice, "Tell him!"

"Chopper, I can't take care of you forever." She said, and Chopper took a step back, stumbling slightly over a piece of wood. Without another word, he ran outside.

"Hey—" Luffy made to go after him, but Kureha stopped him.

"He's a smart boy, even if he's upset, he'll understand. That I didn't want him to be alone, I mean." She said, "Go upstairs, into the closet, there's a bag for him. I've had his things all ready for…a while now." Luffy nodded, "…He understands." She laid her head back in her chair and Luffy took that as his cue to leave.

He took the stairs two at a time, and though they creaked under him they seemed sturdy—the house was well maintained. He tried three doors before he found the closet, and sitting on the floor was a blue bag. Luffy grabbed it and ran back down the stairs. When he reentered the room he stopped to consider the plants Chopper had left on the table.

"Hey old lady, should I take these with me?" He pointed at the plants, "…Old lady?" He trailed off as he turned back to her. She sat unblinkingly in the chair. Luffy approached the seat hesitantly, and everything was still as death, as though time had stopped. Kureha's expression was peaceful, as though a great burden had been lifted from her. She'd been waiting for this for a long time—she'd just held on for Chopper's sake until now.

Taking off his hat, Luffy closed her eyes.

Luffy scraped the leaves from the table into the bag silently, and went outside to find Chopper. It didn't take him long to locate him sitting in the grass a ways away from the cabin. Luffy said nothing as he moved sit next to him. Chopper looked up at him with a solemn expression, and Luffy returned his gaze steadily.

Tears welled in his eyes, and the boy threw himself at Luffy, buried his face in Luffy's vest and cried.

xxx

After what seemed like hours of walking, Zoro stumbled upon a path. Perhaps a bit too satisfied with himself (because he would die before he'd admit that his sense of direction was lacking, damn it), he peered in both directions and realized that he could see light coming from far off down the right path.

If that girl had taken his sword for any other purpose than her own use, he assumed she would try to sell or barter them—either to trade for food or perhaps as a means to _take_ their food. If she had stumbled across this path, that was likely where she would go. He wasn't sure how many other settlements there were around here, but he'd been walking for long enough that he was confident that if there was a better option, he would have found it by now.

He set off down the road, not quite running, but with more purpose than he'd had for the last few hours. Just as the sun began to rise, he found he could make out the sign post leading into the town—"Cocoyashi".

Zoro slowed his pace as he reached the edge of the village, sticking closely to the trees alongside the path for cover. He wasn't really sure who lived here, but he knew better than going in recklessly.

That was the kind of approach that got you locked in cages.

Instead, Zoro broke away from the path, following the wall marking the city limits for a ways before he was well out of sight of the front gates. He backed up a few feet, giving himself a running start to leap up and grab the top of the wall. Zoro pulled himself up, not yet going over the top. From where he was, the sun was at his back, and he hazarded a brief look over the edge, banking on the sun giving him cover from anyone who might glance over.

He didn't need it. There was no one in sight. Zoro waited a few minutes before he was finally satisfied that no one would be catching him off guard. The wisps of smoke he could see on the other end of the village were all that told him anyone was living here at all.

Zoro lifted himself the rest of the way up and dropped down on the other side of wall, landing on the grass below with a quiet thump. He needed to find his sword. Every part of him wanted to storm over to the source of the smoke and start tearing the place apart looking for his sword, but he thought better of it.

That girl had snuck around though the woods, following them and watching for a long time before she'd made herself known. Zoro was sure that if she was going to come to this village, she wouldn't have gone to sell to them before she'd scoped the place out. One of these houses would be the perfect place to hunker down and keep watch from.

In all actuality, Zoro wasn't even sure that she was here, but this was the best he had to go on, so he wasn't about to give up.

Instead he crept up to the nearest house and peered inside through one of the curtain-less windows. No one was inside, and the thick layer of dust on the floor told him that no one had been in a while.

He moved on to the next, staying low and quiet and doing his best to stay out of sight of anyone that may be watching from the other end of the town. All of the houses were empty, and most of them looked uninhabited. Zoro started picking up his pace between homes, and he almost didn't notice the footprints in the dust inside one of the houses.

Zoro tried the window, and it opened without protest. He slipped inside as quietly as he could. Up close, the footprints didn't actually look like the woman's—they were too large, and the heel definitely didn't look like a woman's shoe. There was also a thick line in the dust, as though something had been dragged alongside the person. Zoro followed the trail with his eyes, noting that they stopped at a rug on the floor. He flipped it back and found a gold rung bolted to the floor.

A trap door. He pulled on it and found it locked. Now he was curious.

Zoro stepped back and drew his sword. The lock on it was old but in good condition. The wood it was bolted to, on the other hand…He swiped at it twice, leaving two deep gouges in the wood and weakening it enough that he could wrench the lock free. When he pulled the door free, he barely concealed his shock.

Food, weapons, blankets, hell—even his swords, though he wasn't one for wishful thinking—Zoro could have imagined finding any of it at the bottom of the cellar. This on the other hand? Not so much, actually. Zoro glared into the hole.

"What is it with you people? Why do I keep finding random fucking people locked up along my path?" Zoro shouted, leaning over the edge of the trapdoor.

"Who the hell are you? And what the fuck do you mean by 'you people', you shitty Marimo?"

xxx

They buried her in the morning. Though it wasn't particularly fancy, they'd fashioned a grave marker and picked some flowers for the grave. Outside the house, Chopper insisted on leaving a sign to welcome any travelers. The paint they used was old and lumpy, and they didn't have a brush. Chopper thought the sign was endearing. Luffy thought it was ugly, and set to sprucing it up by painting a tiny Chopper and Luffy in the bottom corner.

"Doctorine always seemed angry, but she always helped people…She would have liked this." Chopper said, admiring their work.

Chopper seemed satisfied, and after a long look at the house he had once lived in, he pulled on his backpack, prepared to leave. Luffy pulled on his own pack, which he'd filled with as many supplies from the house that he could carry. The rest would go to the next person to come across the little cottage.

Luffy gave Chopper a light squeeze on the shoulder. "The old lady would be proud of you, you know." He said. Chopper blushed.

"I don't need your shitty complements…It's not like they make me happy or anything…" He said. Chopper shrugged Luffy's hand off and changed the subject, though his cheeks were still bright red, "We should go find your friend."

Luffy took the topic change in stride, "Oh yeah, let's go! Umm… 'cept that last time I saw him, he was running after Nami…" Luffy spun in a little circle, then stopped and laughed, "I really have no idea where he is."

"Well, we can start by finding the path?" Chopper offered. Luffy grinned at him like he was a genius.

"Yosh, sounds like a plan." Luffy said, taking off at a run into the trees. Chopped made a little indignant squeak before running after him.

"Idiot, you're going the wrong way!" He called after him, bounding through the brush. Luffy laughed.

**This one is a bit darker than the previous, but then, this is an apocalypse AU, so it was bound to happen. Reviews are appreciated.**


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